Chapter IX: Through the Snow
"Come get me!"
"I'll rip your fingers off and eat them like shrimp, you bloody wanker!"
This was the new usual me, I had turned into an adrenaline junkie, always seeking a fight and to rumble fists together. My new black jacket sat hung across the back of a chair and white polo shirt was untucked from my beige trousers which ended with black boots. I grinned as I looked at my opponent surrounded by the crowds of drunks. He was a trashy looking sailor who spat offensive words out like a machinegun, his grumpy hairy face looked like a few bruises weren't going to change much.
"What are you waiting for you posh boy? Think you can just swagger into this bar and declare yourself king of the pub? This place is only for those who are tough and can actually pull their weight!" He taunts me.
"Yet you remain" I snicker.
"That's it" He yells in a barrage of rage.
He comes hurdling at me with his head erected towards my gut. I sidestep across him and grab the back of his tattered shirt, slipping up his feet and bringing him to his heels.
"You must do better than that" I laugh.
He grumbles and swings at me with his elbow, I drop him onto the ground and he gets up.
"Let's see how your pretty boy face looks when an iron fist meets it!" The man declares.
"Where's this man with the iron fist?" I ask.
"Right here!"
He comes at me with his fist upheld. He swings down his fist and I grab his wrist and kick his knee sending him downwards to a prey position. I move in the bottom of my hand, bringing his fingers to the point of touching his forearm. He whimpers and moans as I push harder.
ARGH!
He screams aloud. I let go of his wrist and sending his feet down. He begins to squabble around his injured wrist and cringe at the aftermath of my attack.
"This is truly pathetic" I mumble.
I rise my boot and whip my foot across his face causing it to collide with the floor and then I rise the foot and slam down onto the back of his skull. Knocking the intimidating sailor into an unconscious state.
I turn, the crowd was stunned by my physical abilities. Their jaws stubbed their toes and their pupils shrunk from shock.
"I'll be on my way" I declare, I turn to the bartender "And put the drink on my tab" I inform him.
I stand, my feet impaled in the snow covering of the earth. I clutch my arms and shiver in the winter's embrace, waiting on Haytham. He was taking an awfully long time, I began to think that I would be the victim of hypothermia at these conditions. Finally the caped Grand Master's silhouette became prominent in the distance.
"Haytham?" I question.
"Right here" He waves.
I loosen my grip and drop my arms as I approach him, highly rising my knees and planting them into the white dirt to move forward. He does the same and we walk down onto the road where the snow had been (as best as they could) cleared.
"So, I am present in Lexington, what follows?" He requests to know.
"Well after she's been boiling up so much trouble around Lexington it is believed that she wouldn't be too far out into the forest" I notify him.
"How far would your calculations say?" He asks.
"I'd say a several miles from here, but not as far to say eight" I educate him.
"I see. Shall we be off?" He replies.
"The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get out of this cold" I moan.
We tread through the snow infected forest, every inch being covered in the cloud white substance. I look around, my nose as red as a tomato, just looking for any sign of Ziio.
"Derrick, would you perhaps know the native woman's name?" Haytham asks me, looking down to his side.
"Kaniehtí:io" I reply so suddenly.
Haytham blinks, and looks at me stunned by the ridiculous name "Sorry, could you repeat that?" He asks.
"Just call her Ziio, she is comfortable with that" I chuckle.
"Very well" Haytham turns back to the path before us. Quickly Haytham snaps out his hand and crouches, we had obviously stumbled upon her.
"Follow me" Haytham whispers.
We slowly make our way towards her, the snow particles crumbling under the heavy steps of our boots. Suddenly wolves begin to reveal themselves from the heavily shrub covered areas, snarling at their target, Ziio.
Haytham stops, his foot begins to dig into the snow. The wolf lets out a howl into the echoing sky and Haytham's foot flies into the air as he launches himself forward into action. Wolves begin to charge and one tackles Ziio and begins to snap at her face before Haytham kicks it off into the snow and extends his blade into it's gut. I stand, nervous by the sight of predators, I shiver as I was like a lost child where my father and mother, being Haytham and Ziio, were off somewhere else. Suddenly I hear a bark and a Wolf pounces down onto me tackling me to the ground.
"Haytham, this fucking beast has got me pinned!" I scream, I wasn't even aware if swearing like that was widely accepted into society yet.
Haytham glances over his shoulder to me and extends his arm to Ziio to help her up. Haytham looks away from Ziio and pulls out a flintlock and fires led straight through the wolf's skull. The blood of the wolf spills onto my face and I throw the corpse off of me. I slowly gather my way up and look at the dead wolf, the sight of dead animals was disgusting to me.
I clench my waist and bend over letting out a wave of vomit onto the shrubs.
"Derrick, compose yourself!" Haytham exhales, still his arm extended to Ziio.
Suddenly, Ziio feeling threatened, grabs Haytham's arm and quickly jumps up putting Haytham's arm into a lock. She then kicks the back of his knee and throws him to the ground, he was stunned by the attack. Ziio then looks over to the confused me, I rise my hands into the air.
"Ziio, I'm not trying to fight you, we just want to be friends" I whimper.
"You again" she hisses.
I turn and try to run while letting out a cowering scream, without even making it a metre I am quickly tackled by a vicious force, Ziio was a bloody warrior. She tackle me to the ground and held my forearms against my spine and sunk my face to eat dirt.
"Bad Ziio!" I say, whipping my neck around.
"Ziio!" another voice calls out.
Ziio turns her eyes to Haytham, standing in the open area.
"Let him go!" Haytham demands.
"Why have you come here?" She asks.
"We just want to know some things" Haytham informs her.
"Like?" She goes on.
"What this is" Haytham explains, pulling out the amulet.
Ziio releases my arms and jolts over to Haytham snapping it out of his hands. I roll in the dirt rubbing my sore arms from the pure pressure of which she gripped them.
"Where did you get this?" She requests to know, inspecting the amulet.
"From an old friend" Haytham answers.
"I've only seen such markings in one other place" Ziio mumbles.
"Where?" Haytham asks in much haste.
"Well, it is forbidden for me to speak of" Ziio says, turning to glance over at me.
"I saved your people, does this mean nothing to you?" Haytham outbursts, shrugging his arms. "Look, I am not the enemy" Haytham sighs, backing off.
Ziio looks down at the snow and glances up to Haytham with a smirk. "Close to here there is a hill. Meet me there, and we will see if you speak the truth" She says retreating backwards, then turning and running away with the amulet.
Haytham looks over to me "Perhaps it would be best if you leaved now" He snickers.
"You think?" I say, getting up and stretching my back.
"There's a Tavern not too far from here, you can stay there for the night" Haytham suggests.
I sit in the tavern, a knife firm in my hand and my fingers spread across the wooden table. I smashed the knife between my fingers at a moderate speed, besides my hand was a plate with scraps on it and a fork upon it, I had finished my meal and now passed the time with fiver finger fillet.
British regulars and lower class citizens all dined and drank in this tavern, it was all quite noisy everyone conversing with each other.
Suddenly, out the corner of my eye, Ziio walks in the door and quickly followed by Haytham. What a shame, I was hoping I could stay a little longer in the Wright Tavern. As in the game Ziio hung by the door, by herself as Haytham waltzed around eavesdropping on Regulars. I laid my knife down and got off my chair.
I approached Ziio and stood in front of her, my figure slightly taller than her own.
"What do you want?" She moans.
"I just wanted to apologise, for all inconvenience we, or I, may have caused" I say, a slight smile forming on my face unknowingly.
Her eyes rise to meet mine, oh god, I think I am blushing, she looks down at my cheek and snickers. "So, how does it feel?" She asks, cryptically speaking.
"How does what feel?" I ask, my right eyebrow rising.
She raises her hand and places her thumb across my cheek, the prominent scar she runs her finger down. Causing me to grit my teeth together and suck in my breath.
"Exactly" She laughs, crossing her arms together.
"Oh, it's nothing" I smile.
She looks back up at me "Stop trying to act tough, you're already going glowing like an apple" She snickers.
Haytham then walks by us and his hand clutches the door knob.
"Oi, where you goin', cully?" A regular calls out from behind us.
Haytham turns, confused. "Me?" He asks.
"No, the other cock robin" The regular sarcastically says.
"Well I uh…I WAS leaving" Haytham says, turning to look at the door for a split second.
"Oh? And now?" He says, approaching us.
"Now, I'm going to feed you your teeth" Haytham says.
"You thought I was going to be trouble" Ziio sighs.
Suddenly Regulars begin to accumulate around us, the fight had begun. I crack my knuckle together and grin, I loved me a good fight or two.
One ran at me and I grabbed his punch and swung my foot into his knee and then I crouched down and slammed my head into his gut and grabbed hips and rose him above me. I let out a battle cry and dropped his body against the hard boards of the ground.
I ran at them and threw two punches into one's gut, then another charged at me and I kicked his punch into the air and then sucker punched his gob. The other from before went to kick me and I quickly turned and grabbed his leg. I planted my palm into his armpit while his arms swung around and I spun him in such a way to lift him up and then slammed his head into a table crumbling it. Then the one I sucker punched swung another punch which I ducked and then slammed my knuckles against his gut which sent him trembling to the ground.
I glanced over to Haytham, he was handling his opponents extremely well. I then returned my eye contact to my last opponent. He pulled out a knife and released a sinister grin.
"How do you like these odds?" He adds.
He charges at me and seeks to shove the knife in my gut. I spin my torso across and grab his fist and follow that up by elbowing his chin, knocking the knife into my hands. He then regains his figure and swings a punch at me which I duck and stabbed his boot with the knife and then I rise and uppercut him with my fist, sending him into the air and then down into a table that shatters from the pressure.
I then turn and see Haytham facing two Regulars and decided to charge in. I jump forth and then kick my boot into one's back. He lets out a yell and turns and throws a punch at me which I duck but I am countered by a knee to the face which sends my neck up I then look at the Regular who is grabbed by Haytham and has his puny neck in Haytham's clutches.
"Perhaps you've made the wrong decision" Haytham taunts.
"Piss off you pommy bastard!" The Regular yells.
Haytham then erects his arm and smacks the Regular's head against a post and then Haytham throws the Regular down against the ground. I get up and clutch my nose as blood runs down it, I manage my way over to the bar and sit down on a stool.
I look down at my open palm to see blood across my wrist, not only had my nose been banged up, so was the underside of my eye. Ziio sits down next to me and her hand reaches out across my chin and she turns my face to hers, the sight of the beautiful woman made butterflies in my stomach, her eyes examined my wounds but my eyes were focused on hers.
"You're hurt" She states. If I hadn't had such a crush on her I might've said 'No shit' but her concern for my health was almost alarming seeing as just a few nights before she had injured me.
"It's nothing, I'm sure it will heal itself" I shrug it off.
Her eyes look into mine with an almost sarcastic look "Like you're scar?" She snickers.
"Touché" I laugh.
Her hands reach over the bar and she grabs a bottle and spills the liquid onto a cloth. She then places it against my cheek and held it there. I could feel the redness aligning across my nose and then the corner of her mouth rose and I saw the same subtle blush on her.
"That should stop the bleeding" She says.
"Thank you" I grin.
She removes the cloth from my face and we sit up and Haytham looks at us.
"Derrick, seeing as you wish to be such a valued member to this cause I want you to support Ziio in the following mission, I will take my leave" Haytham commands me.
"Yes, sir" I agree, just wanting to get closer to this woman.
A snowstorm raged on across the Fort I had been tasked to approach. I slugged through the snow, slowly manoeuvring my way up the slope of the hill. There I saw Ziio, slanted across a tree. I approached her and she noticed me and walked towards me.
"So, Haytham decided that you would take this mission?" She asks.
"Yes, he has an odd way of going about things but I am obliged to follow" I explain.
"Okay" She turns to see the fort "Use the snowstorm to mask your approach" She suggests.
I stare blankly towards the fort and she turns to look at me. "Having second thoughts?" She asks.
"Not really, I'll just have to be careful about this" I explain.
"Go on then, I'll keep watch from here" She commands, nodding her head to the fort.
I begin my mission and walk forth.
I jog over to a cart that currently is being pulled towards the fort. I make my way close to it without being noticed and I leap forth and my foot boosts up the corner of the cart and I jump into the cargo that is hidden by a curtain.
The cart continues to make its way and then is halted.
"What's in the wagon? I need a full inventory" An outside voice demands, most likely a Regular.
"As you wish. Let's see here…2 barrels of salt, 12 pounds of pork, 10 pounds of beef, 7 dozen eggs, 16 wheels of cheese – none of it French, don't worry. 5 bottles of whiskey. Couple dozen new uniforms, boots, and leather for patching. Blankets. A cart of feed for the horses. Wot else… Wot else… That's it, that's all there is" The driver answers, doing an efficient job.
The cart begins movement again and it makes its way inside.
I leap out of the cart, the curtain flicking in my movement. I fall into some shrubs without one pair of eyes catching sight of me. I was completely hidden and I slowly made my way towards some targets to eavesdrop.
I hide in the shrubs catching sight of George Washington in them, obviously he was still a redcoat at the time.
"Tell me you're good news" A man asks.
"General Braddock refused the offer, there will be no truce" Washington explains.
"Damn it! Why George, what reason did he give?" The other man exclaims.
"He said a diplomatic solution was no solution at all. That allowing the French to retreat would only delay an inevitable conflict – one in which they'd now have the upper hand" George replies.
"There's merit to those words, as much as I hate to admit it. Still… can't he see this is unwise?"
"It doesn't sit well with me either. We're far from home with our forces divided. Worse, I fear Braddock's bloodlust makes him careless. It puts the men at risk. I'd rather not be delivering the grim news to mothers and widows because the Bulldog wanted to prove a point"
"Where's the general now?"
"Rallying the troops"
"And then it's on to Fort Duquesne I assume?"
"Eventually. The march not will surely take time. There's a copy of the plans in the command tent should you wish to review them"
"At least this will end soon"
"I tried, John"
"I know, my friend. I know…"
The two then walk off to further guard the fort where I then stealth my way over to the command tent.
Without being spotted I climb into the tent and see the plans which I quickly snatch and escape the area with much haste. Leaving the fort unnoticed and into the snow yet again.
I return to Ziio, who is crouched in the snow, she sees me and she erects herself into a standing position.
"What news" She asks.
"The Bulldog has left to rally his troops. They're marching on Fort Dusquesne. It'll be a while yet 'til they're ready, which gives us time to form a plan" I explain, showing her the plans.
"No need. We will ambush him here near the river. Go and gather Haytham and your allies. I will do the same. I will send word when it is time to strike" She informs me.
"Surely this will take much time" I reply.
"It will, but when we're ready we can end this" She says, turning.
I drop my arms and hesitantly say "Ziio"
"Yes?" she says, turning.
"Haytham, I must tell you"
"What is it?"
"The cave, he wants to open a door, but the amulet will not do it, the Apple of Eden is what will open it"
Ziio twists her head confused "How do you know these things?" she asks.
"Ziio, I'm not from this time, I know everything, I know about the future and I know about how I wish to change things for the better, the temple must not be opened by Haytham, as much as I hate to say it. Ziio, I can't hide these things from you, it just feels wrong to!"
"Are you touched in the head?"
"This must sound insane, I know, but I know things I shouldn't. Ziio, Haytham is a…"
"Spit it out"
"A Templar" I cringe.
"That makes you…"
"No Ziio, it doesn't. I know about the Assassins and I am not one who is true to the Templar cause, I seek the freedom of mankind and this is why I tell you these things, I just don't want harm to come to us"
Ziio slowly approaches me "Thank you" she says.
"My names Derrick Myers" I tell her.
Her hand rises and her fingers cross my cheek smoothly. "You promise to protect me?" She asks.
I blush excessively "I seek no harm to come to you, knowing as much as I do I will keep you from everything that seeks to harm you" I say, reaching my hand out.
She extends her other arm out and relaxes her wrists on my shoulders and then I place my hand on her back and she moves towards me. Placing her head against my chest and smiling, I smile too and wrap my arms around her hip, embraced in her hug.
"Derrick, the man who knows too much" She snickers.
This moment I wish would've lasted longer.
A/N: I sincerely apologise to all my fans I kept waiting so long, sorry but school isn't something that is easy to brush to the side! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as I made it extra-long so I could make up for the break, I also hope I didn't piss off anyone exploring my relationship between Derrick and Ziio!
