Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed.


Chapter II

There were some things, Edward had noticed, that did not change over the centuries. The first was the haystacks, which were always located at the most convenient yet totally impossible places. The second was that the guards would always fall for the stupidest of tricks. And the third was that there would always be problems with drunkards.

It was a fairly ordinary day for Edward up until that point. He was heading towards a tavern where he was a regular customer, "The Auld Shillelagh", a small place just outside Bristol. Edward quite liked it there. He had his drinking buddies and a lot of alcohol along with quite a few women; one would say that Edward, at the age of seventeen, was too young to hang out in such a place. But hey! It was a nice and pretty effective way to forget his problems and release some tension. Perhaps he was like that because of Ezio; that guy was always spending his money on women and wine when he was in the same age. But at the same time Ezio had lost half his family in that age, and since Edward could recall the memories of his ancestors easier when they were around the same age, that affected him too.

However, Ezio's traumatic experiences were only part of the problem. Edward was now seventeen and that was old enough for him to worry that there was fat chance he never gets out of Bristol. His father, Bernard, was a sheep shepherd, his grandfather was a sheep shepherd, his grandfather's father was a sheep shepherd, and now it seemed like Edward would be a sheep shepherd as well. And he did not like that at all. He had more important things to do, darn it! Or more like, he felt like he had more important things to do.

A good enough reason to head to his favourite tavern when his parents were out.

He had just gotten in the tavern when he noticed that something was wrong. You see, Edward was used to keeping track of every girl in town, and that was one that he had never seen before. More importantly, this tavern was most definitely not the kind of place a girl like her would hang out at. She had the modest appearance of a housemaid in some rich household, and such servants were only seen in town when they were to purchase supplies and other goods. Yet it was very much obvious that groceries were that last thing that the maid had in mind right now. He was yelling – very loud and in complete contrast to her modest appearance – and she was surrounded by three other guys; all older that she was.

Three guys who Edward knew all too well; Tom and Seth Cobleigh, and Julien somebody – he never bothered learning his surname. All three of them assholes; one pointed look and it was enough for them to take it personally, like you were looking at them down your nose or something. Well, they certainly did look Edward down their noses, and that had resulted in quite a few fist fights. And there was no hiding their lecherous looks as they ate the drunk girl with their eyes.

It did not take a genius to put two and two together; those three had "invited" the lass for a drink, she accepted the offer, and now they were waiting – impatiently – until she was drunk enough for them to take advantage of her. Edward's morals were loose in more than a few places, but this was not one of them.

True to Edward's suspicions, the three lads were ready to "escort" the young lady out. "You've had too much to drink, Lovely. Let's get you Home, shall We?".

"To Bed.", added Seth, obviously thinking that nobody would hear him even though the whole tavern did – no better than a toddler, honestly. "Let's be getting you to Bed.".

Oh, they were asking for it. Edward signaled to the barman and another patron; both refused. Cowards. Not that Edward could not take those three assholes on his own with ease, but he really wanted to see who would be willing to put some boundaries to the liberties of the customers in the tavern. If the tavern's very own owner was not willing to put his foot down… Oh well.

Edward stepped outside the dark tavern and into the sunlight; he blinked by the sudden change. As expected, the asshole trio and the girl had not gotten too far. In fact, they were just outside the road. Perfect. Now everyone who paid attention would see what followed.

"Well, Tom Cobleigh.", started Edward, knowing it did not take much to rill them up. "The Things you see on a fine Afternoon. Why, just you and your Cronies are getting drunk, and getting a poor defenseless Woman even drunker.".

The girl finally seemed to realize that something was wrong with her company, as she released her arm from Tom's grip. However Tom did not seem to really care at the moment as he had already raised an accusing finger towards Edward. "Now, just You stay out of This, Edward Kenway, You young good-for-nothing. You're as drunk as I am and yer Morals just as loose. I don't need to be given a talking-to by the Likes of You.". By the time Tom had finished his little speech Seth and Julien had already turned towards Edward as well and the girl seemed to had entered some sort of sleep-walking state.

"Well, loose Morals I might have, Tom Cobleigh, but I don't need to pour Ale down a Girl's Throat before taking her to Bed, and I certainly don't need two Friends to help me with the Task.". Edward said that with a smile; he really was more drunk than he thought. He was always trying not to drink too much alcohol as he knew it was unwise, but it was so easy to lose track.

Apparently that little insult did its work too well. Tom had turned an interesting shade of red. "Why, you cheeky little Bastard, you. I'm going to put her on my Cart is what I'm going to do, and take her Home.".

"I have no Doubt that you intend to put her on your Cart and take her Home.", replied Edward smoothly. "It's what you plan to do between putting her in the Cart and reaching Home that concerns me.".

"That concerns you, does it? A broken Nose and a Couple of broken Ribs will be concerning you unless you mind your own bloody Business.".

Absentmindedly, Edward noticed a lone figure, half-hidden by the trees, heading towards their direction, but he paid no mind to it. All his good humor from earlier disappeared, and his voice showed a steely edge that would make any man less drunk to think twice before challenging him. "Now you just leave that Girl alone, Tom Cobleigh, or I won't be responsible for my Actions.".

The three men did as he said, and the girl seemed almost relieved that they finally let her go. Guess she was not sleep walking after all.

Edward in the mean time calculated the odds. Three against one. He had to admit that while Altair and Ezio had fought dozens of times with much worse odds than that, Edward himself had never really gotten in such a fight. Nobody wanted anything to do with the most abnormal lad in town. Also, all of them were more or less just as drunk – which was quite a lot – and Edward was not at the very prime of his strength right now. From the other hand, Tom was old enough to be Edward's father – heck, he was the same age with Edward's father! – Seth was Tom's son – and the fact that he was helping his father get a young girl to his bed said quite a lot about what kind of people they were. Seth was most likely to back off when fists started flying. However Julien might prove trouble; he certainly looked like he could handle himself.

And yet… Edward remembered the lone rider who was still approaching. Worst case scenario, if he could not handle those three bastards alone, he could hold them off until said rider showed up. More than likely he would decide to help. Plus, the trio would not be so brave in front of an audience.

"So,", Edward continued, looking for a fight. "even if you end up leaving me a bloody Heap by the Side of this here Road, and carry that young Lassie off anyway, I'm going to have to do all I can to make it as difficult for you as possible. And perhaps see to it that you go on your Way with a black Eye and maybe a pair of throbbing Bollocks for your Troubles.".

Tom had obviously lost his patience by then. His eyes had become slits when he spoke next. "Well, are you going to stand there talking about it all Day, Edward Kenway, or are you going to attend to your Task? Because Time waits for no Man…", he grinned after that "I've got People to see, Things to do.".

"Aye, that's right, and the longer you leave it the more Chance that poor Lassie has of sobering up, eh?".

"I don't mind telling you, I'm getting tired of all this Talk, Kenway.". Tom turned to Julien. "How about we teach this little Bastard a Lesson? Oh, and one more Thing before we start, Master Kenway,", he added, turning back to Edward "you ain't fit to shine your Mother's Shoes, you understand?".

Tom had hit the Jackpot. That one was a heavy blow to Edward. Others would dismiss it as unimportant, but Edward could not. Not when his own family life was as shitty as it was. Saying that his father did not treat his mother well would be an understatement, and the fact that Edward could not take care of her properly was a deep wound in his guts. And to think that it was that bloody mongrel who had driven that rusty knife in that wound and twisted it just to see how much it would hurt… That bastard was a dead meat.

Julien, being the most confident, took a fighting stance and swung his right fist towards Edward. Obviously he was either not as good as Edward thought, or he had underestimated the blond. Edward had noticed right away that his opponent was right handed. Edward pared the incoming fist with his left hand and drove his right one right into the man's throat, causing him to choke out air, saliva, alcohol, and a little bit of blood. A very violent strike, that had it had a little bit more force behind it, it would have killed the man. But Julien was still alive, and Edward could feel his heartbeat in his fingertips as he caught the unconscious man from the neck and threw him on a very surprised Tom, who was intending to sneak at Edward from the side. Obviously he did not expect Edward to notice him.

However Edward had fallen into the same trap, for as he did that, Seth had grabbed an empty bottle from somewhere and slammed it into Edward's head. Edward felt his head throb and his vision blurring, and he turned around to drive his left elbow in Seth's nose as retaliation. However, Seth was already one step away from Edward and he missed. At the same time, Tom had managed to get Julien off him and now he was trying to regain his balance. And as that was not enough, it was obvious that Julien had slowly started regaining his senses.

This was bad. Very bad.

All Edward could now do was par the attacks and hope than he could land a lucky strike. At some point Julien had managed to land a blow underneath his chin, and then the worst thing possible happened. Seth tripped him. And he fell. The worst thing that could happen to you when you are outnumbered is fall. Once you fell it was over.

And in that exact moment, the lone rider arrived. Edward managed to take a look at her. Oh. Her. Shit. The rider was a woman, and obviously a lady of class. She was riding astride the horse, like a man, and not sidesaddle like it was the usual for women. That only showed confidence. And even through the kicks of the three that were now raining, he managed to form one thought. "She is beautiful…".

Too bad that beauty cannot save his life.

"Hey.", Edward heard her calling out. "You three Men. Stop what you're doing right now.".

The three of them reluctantly backed off, and he tried to get back on his feet, unable to stop his coughing. Now that the beating had stopped, Edward managed to take a batter look at her. She was young – perhaps a little older than him? – and while she was not high society, she was definitely raised in a rich household. No woman of her status was making trips with her horse alone. And Jeysus, she was twice as beautiful as he had first thought.

"We were just teaching this young Man here some Manners.", Tom excused himself, obviously out of breath. How exhausting it must be to kick a fallen man to death!

The young lady was not having any of that. "Well, it doesn't take three of you to do that, does it?", she retorted, sending a glare to the three men who now looked like little kids scolded by their parents. She got off the horse. "More to the Point, what are you doing with this young Lady here?". Wait, that drunk girl was still here? What was she doing, that idiot, and had not run away yet!?

"Oh, Ma'am, this is a young Friend of ours who had too much to drink.".

The woman's posture darkened and her gaze turned into a death glare. Something the lad had said was the wrong thing to say. "She is most certainly not your young Friend, she is a Maidservant, and if I don't get her back Home before my Mother discovers she is absconded then she will be an unemployed Maidservant.". Ooh, now they were doomed. "I know you Men, and I think I know exactly what has been going on here. Now, you will leave this young Man alone and be on your Way before I am of a Mind to take this further.".

The threat was obviously very effective, for before he knew it, these guys were bowing, apologizing and fleeing. With them gone, the woman kneeled to the ground in front Edward. "My Name is Caroline Scott, my Family lives in Hawkins Lane in Bristol, let me take you back there and tend to your Wounds.".

A very generous offer that surprised Edward. Not many people of class would aid a peasant like him. "I cannot, my Lady", replied Edward with a grin, his mood greatly uplifted by the rescue and the politeness of the rescuer. "I have Work to do.", he said, managing to sit up. He had to act at least a bit dignified in front of a lady. No woman would be happy with a man who was acting like a dirty asshole.

She – Caroline – stood up. "I see. And did I assess the Situation correctly?".

Edward started to brush the dirt of his clothes. "You did, my Lady.".

"Then I owe you my Thanks and so will Rose when she sobers up. She is a willful Girl, not always the easiest of Staff, but nevertheless, I don't want to see her suffer for her Impetuousness.".

"Gods.", decided Edward in his head. "I was saved by an Angel.". He finally got up, and he helped Caroline mount the still piss-drunk Rose, who was oblivious to the rest of the world. As Caroline would mount a sudden thought occurred to Edward and he blurted it before he could stop himself. "Can I see you again, my Lady? When I look a little more presentable, perhaps?".

She gave him a regretful look. "My Father would never approve.". And with that, she was off.

Edward Kenway at that moment knew that this would not be their last meeting.


Author notes: the majority of this chapter is taken directly from Edward Kenway's journal (you can find it in Black Flag, in one of the hacking missions). From the next chapter onwards things will start deviating from cannon - I hope not too much because I will end up stuck in a writer's block; AGAIN. Please review.