Yeah... This took me a while to finish. (Dang PS4) Hope you guys enjoy.
The shanty in this chapter is "The Dead Horse" suggested by J053D4N13L35C083D0
With the map to the treasure in hand, Edward sailed with the crew to its destination. Kyle looked at the map and had a concerned look on his face.
"Are you sure we are going the right way, Kenway?" Kyle asked.
"Of course I am." Edward said.
"They say that the captain is never wrong!" Ruby said.
Kyle looked at the map further. He slapped his hand on his leg and rolled his eyes.
"You had the map upside down you idiot!" Kyle said.
Ruby took the map and looked at it. She flipped it over and looked at it again.
"Yup. We're going the wrong way." Ruby said.
"Damn it!" Edward said.
He turned the ship around and started sailing in the right direction now. It took a while for them to get back on the trail that was shown on the map. They reached some cliffs were there were sharp rock formations in the waters. The place had an ominous look.
"This can't be the right way." Weiss said.
Ruby looked at the map, "No. We're in the right place."
"Should have known that the Crooked Cliffs would have been the perfect hiding place." Edward said.
"The Crooked Cliffs?" Blake said.
"Aye. All of the ships that went in there have sunk to the bottom." Edward said.
"Then why are we going in there?" Weiss asked.
Edward grinned, "Nothing can stop the Jackdaw, lass."
Edward steered the ship into the cliffs. He called the ship to half sail and he carefully twisted the ship to avoid the rocks. Meanwhile, the crew tried to keep up their spirits by singing another shanty.
A poor old man
Came riding by.
And we say so,
And we know so.
O, a poor old man
Came riding by,
O, poor old man.
Says I, "Old man,
Your horse will die."
And we say so,
And we know so.
And if he dies
we'll tan his hide.
O, poor old man.
And if he don't,
I'll ride him again.
And we say so,
And we know so.
And I'll ride him
'Til the Lord knows when,
O, poor old man.
He's dead as a nail
In the lamp room door,
And we say so,
And we know so.
And he won't come
Worrying us no more
O, poor old man.
We'll use the hair of his tail
To sew our sails
And we say so,
And we know so.
And the iron of his shoes
To make deck nails,
O, poor old man.
Drop him down
With a long long rope
And we say so,
And we hope so.
Where the sharks have his body
And the devil takes his soul!
O, poor old man.
Edward was able to traverse through the cliffs without damaging the Jackdaw. He dropped the anchor in front of a cave in the side of one of the cliffs.
"I guess we have to go in there to get at the treasure." Edward said.
"Well, we came this far." Kyle said.
"Aye. We don't want to disappoint your ladies now, would we?" Edward said.
He ordered the crew to send three rowboats into the water. One boat held Kyle, Ruby, Yang, and Blake. The second held Edward, Emma, Weiss, and Mason. The third boat held some of the crew who volunteered to travel with them. They rowed into the cave and kept paddling to get to the end. Ruby looked down into the water thought that she saw something.
"Um… Is it safe to do this?" Ruby asked.
"Everything we do is dangerous." Kyle said.
"What's wrong, Ruby?" Yang asked.
"I thought I just saw something in the water." Ruby said.
"It could be fish." Blake said.
"What if it's a shark!?" Ruby asked.
"The cave is filled with fresh water; I doubt that any sharks are here." Kyle said.
Ruby calmed down and they continued down in the cave. They entered a cavern where a small island-like rock sat in the middle where the treasure was held.
"There it is!" Ruby yelled.
They rowed their boats to the rock and climbed up to take a good look at the treasure. Like the rumors said, the treasure was full of gold, jewels, weapons, and dust. The pirates started to run their fingers through the gold and eyeing the jewels. Mason had a quick run through and found something that caught his eye. He found a white heart-shaped locket with diamonds that line the heart. He took the locket in his hands and he used his claws to engrave the letters "WS" into the heart. He hid the locket behind his back and walked up to Weiss.
"Weiss?" Mason said.
She turned and gave him her attention.
"I found this for you." Mason held out his hand and showed the locket.
Weiss took the locket in her hands and looked at it. Her hands started trembling.
"I engraved your initials into it, so it is yours forever." Mason said.
Weiss held the locket close to her chest and a tear formed in her eye. Mason looked around and saw that everyone was looking away from them. He walked up to Weiss and hugged her.
"I just want you to know that I think you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I really care about you." Mason said.
Weiss held the locket up, "Will you help me put it on?"
"Sure." Mason smiled.
He took the locket and unhooked the chain. He placed it around Weiss' neck and hooked it back up. The heart hanged close to her chest and for a long time, Weiss had smiled.
"Thank you, Mason." Weiss said.
As the rest looked through the treasure, they didn't notice that another boat came into the cavern. This boat was filled with Templars.
"Hello gentlemen." A Templar said.
Everyone looked at the boat filled with the Templars.
"We thank you for all of your hard work to show us a safe way to find this treasure." The leader said.
"Back off! This is ours! We found it first!" Ruby yelled.
"Yes, we found it as well." The Templar drew a gun, "Along with the dead bodies of Assassins."
Before the Templar could pull the trigger, something came out of the water and destroyed the boat that they were in. They floated in the water until they were dragged under and blood filled the water where they were.
"I told you that something was in the water!" Ruby said.
Kyle went to the edge to get a look. He saw a creature that resembled a great white shark, but it was black with a white mask formation on its head.
"It's impossible. There is a Grimm in the water." Kyle said.
"A Grimm?" Ruby said.
"I thought the Templars got rid of them?" Emma said.
"Well, it seems that they missed one." Edward said.
"And we aren't going anywhere with the treasure with that Grimm in the water." Kyle said.
"So what do we do?" Yang asked.
Kyle thought for a while and had an idea.
"Blake, can I borrow your weapon for a while?" Kyle asked.
"Sure." Blake handed him Gambol Shroud.
"Emma, I'm going to need you and your bow." Kyle said.
"Got it." Emma said.
"What are you doing, lad?" Edward asked.
"I'm going to beat the Jackdaws record. I don't think that you caught a Grimm shark before." Kyle said.
Kyle and Emma got in a boat. Emma readied her bow and Kyle set Gambol Shroud to its kusarigama form and threw the blade at the Grimm. The blade dug into the Grimm and it started to swim away, making it drag the boat with the Assassins on board.
"Start shooting it!" Kyle said.
Emma used her bow to start firing her light arrows at the Grimm. She kept firing at the Grimm until it dove underwater and forced the blade out of its skin. Kyle kept a close eye on the water for the Grimm. He saw the water change into a white color near the boat. He readied Gambol Shroud and threw the blade as the Grimm came out of the water. The blade went down its throat and got stuck on the inside. The Grimm was forced to swim again and Emma kept firing her arrows at it. More arrows went into it and it slowly got weaker. Emma fired one more arrow and it pierced through its eye. The Grimm turned to its side and remained motionless. The girls cheered seeing that Kyle and Emma had killed the Grimm. They rowed back to the rock where they stood and got back on. Yang ran up to Kyle and gave him a big hug.
"That was awesome! I knew you could do it!" Yang said.
"I helped!" Emma said.
"It was his idea!" Yang said.
"Before this gets to another fight." Edward stood in between the two, "Let try to get as much of the treasure as we can without sinking the boats. We will send some of the crew for the rest."
They took as much of the treasure as they could and went back to the Jackdaw. The crew was surprised to see that Kyle had a Grimm towed behind him. They went to hoist it up while the rest climbed up on the ship. Adewale was the first to greet them.
"How did you find a Grimm in that cave?" Adewale asked.
"It did us a big favor and got rid of some Templars that snuck inside, but it would have done the same thing to us so I killed it." Kyle said.
"And now he has broken my record and set up a new one that may never be beat." Edward said.
"We may have another problem." Adewale said.
"What is it, Adewale?" Kyle asked.
He walked up close to Edward and Kyle so only they could hear him.
"The way out is blocked by five ships." Adewale said.
"So what's the problem?" Edward asked.
"They belong to the Schnee Dust Company." Adewale said.
They looked at Weiss, who was messing with her new locket.
"You think she squealed?" Edward asked.
"Impossible. We have been with her at all times. I don't think that she sold us out." Kyle said, "Besides… What would the Schnee Dust Company want with us? They are not helping the Assassins."
"Maybe they went and joined up with the Templars." Edward said.
"Even if they did, that doesn't mean that Weiss is a traitor. But she may know how we can maneuver around the ships." Kyle said.
"Aye. Let's have a talk with everyone in the cabin." Edward said.
Kyle got RWBY, Emma, and Mason to join him and Edward in the Captain's quarters. Edward explained what Adewale had said before. Emma looked at Weiss with suspicion.
"You sold us out?" Emma said.
"No! I don't know why they are there." Weiss said.
"It's obvious. You called them out here to ambush us and you can back to your cozy little high society living." Emma said.
"No I didn't!" Weiss yelled.
"Wait. What if they are just working? Maybe there is an underwater dust deposit nearby?" Kyle said.
"No. I know for a fact that there are none in this area." Weiss said.
"And now you have just blown your cover." Emma said.
"I'm not covering for anything!" Weiss yelled.
"Then why are you so defensive?" Emma said.
Weiss looked around the room and stormed out. Mason knew that Weiss was upset and he followed her outside. Weiss was crying outside the door. Mason walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders to calm her down.
"It's okay now. Everything is okay." Mason said
"I don't know why my father's ships are here. I doubt that they even know about me being with the Assassins." Weiss said.
"Weiss, you know that we believe you." Mason said.
"Then why is she accusing me!?" Weiss asked.
"I don't know, but its making me suspicious." Mason said.
Mason held her close and brushed the tear off her cheek with his thumb.
"I'm always by your side, Weiss. And I'm sure your friends feel the same way as well." Mason said.
Weiss smiled and hugged Mason. She took a deep breath and walked back into the cabin with Mason. She looked at Edward dead in the eye.
"As I said before, I don't know why those ships are there. But I will do my best to help get us out of here." Weiss said.
"Why don't we just shoot our way out, lass?" Edward asked.
"And kill the innocents on board? You know that is against the Creed, Kenway." Kyle said.
"And I doubt that your cannons can pierce the thick hull of the ships. They were made to contain and ship dust around the world." Weiss said.
"Can't we just sail by them since they are just cargo ships?" Mason asked.
"Even our cargo ships have some weaponry for defense. And even those weapons would turn this wooden relic to splinters." Weiss said.
"Do the ships have any aerial defenses?" Kyle asked.
"I don't think so… Why?" Weiss said.
"Something tells me that the Templars are behind this. I don't know how or why, but one of those ships should be free of innocents." Kyle said.
"So we find that ship and use the mortars on it." Edward said.
"Right. No innocent will be killed and we can escape." Kyle said.
"What about the other ones?" Ruby asked.
"They won't attack us to avoid hitting their allies; and we can use the fire barrels to slow them down." Kyle said.
"Sounds like a plan, lad. Let's get to work." Edward said.
The Jackdaw sailed out of the cliffs and stopped a bit before they got close to the ships. Kyle used Edward's spy glass to look at the ships. He used his Eagle Vision to see the crew of the ships. Most of the ships showed blue, except for one.
"Kenway, the last ship before we get to open water." Kyle said and handed him the spy glass.
Edward looked through the glass.
"That ship is full of hostiles. They could be Templars in disguise." Kyle said.
"Then we go after them." Edward said.
Edward moved the ship past the other ships while the crew dropped the fire barrels to make the Schnee ships to avoid them. Edward ordered the crew to fire the mortars at the hostile ship. Edward made sure to keep behind the hostile ship so the other ships would not attack the Jackdaw. He ordered to continue with the mortar fire and told everyone to brace when it was necessary. The crew continued with the mortars until the ship was dead in the water.
"I want on that ship!" Weiss said.
"Are you sure, Weiss?" Kyle asked.
Weiss put her hood on for the first time, "I have to know."
Kyle nodded and put his hood on. Mason put his on as well, determined to keep Weiss safe. The crew threw the hooks on the other ship and some of the crew, along with Weiss, Mason, and Kyle, boarded the other ship. Weiss pointed her weapon at the enemy.
"Where is your captain!?" Weiss said.
They didn't answer and drew their weapons. Kyle, Mason, and Weiss fought with the crew of the Jackdaw as they fought off the disguised Templars. Weiss pushed herself past the Templars to find the captain of the ship. She made her way to the captain's quarters and found the captain there. Despite being a captain, he had some armor on his person. The captain went to attack Weiss. Weiss parried his attack and used the red dust that was installed on her hidden blade. She drove the blade past the armor and into the captain's neck.
"What is your kind doing with the Schnee Dust Company?" Weiss asked.
"We partnered with the old man and now we share the dust and the profits while taking care of you and the rest of you Assassins." The captain said.
"Liar! They would never ally with barbarians like you!" Weiss said.
"You Assassins see us as enemies, but we are high society members in the public. High, middle, and even the poor class are our eyes and ears to stop your kind. Thanks to Mister Schnee, he made our job a whole lot easier." The captain said.
"Shut up!" Weiss yelled.
She stabbed her rapier into his heart and walked away.
Time had passed and the Jackdaw had escaped from the other Schnee ships. Weiss stood by the side of the ship and watched the sunset. Mason walked up next to her.
"Are you okay?" Mason asked.
"That Templar was lying. And if he wasn't, what would my father gain by siding with the Templars?" Weiss said.
"I don't know. But you are a smart girl Weiss, you can figure it out." Mason said.
"If my father has sided with the Templars, then he has a lot to answer for." Weiss said.
"Weiss…. When that time comes." Mason put his arm around her shoulder, "I will be by your side."
Weiss smiled and watched the sunset with Mason.
Well here it is. And thanks to Ghost Fire 6 for suggesting a Grimm shark. So tell me how this chapter is by review or PM. The shanties I have next are "Leave her Johnny" and "Randy Dandy O". I think I need one more shanty, so go ahead and suggest your favorite if you haven't seen it yet. I am almost done with Edward and will soon move on to Connor. So get ready AC fans! And of course RWBY fans!
