New York, 5th of June 2013
When Edward woke, he was in an unfamiliar place. His head was pounding and his mind running. Where was he? He stood up slowly, leaning against the stone wall for support. A dark alleyway... was he drunk, was everything that happened a drunken illusion? There was a light in the distance, he hoped that he wasn't dead but no, it wasn't white, it was multi-coloured. Edward looked around one more time, his head still paining. He hadn't looked down, his attire was completely drenched. It didn't matter though, what Edward needed was to find out where he was and get back to the Jackdaw.
Pulling up his hood, Edward followed the coloured lights. The streets were darkened and different. This wasn't Havana or Nassau. Perhaps he had been brought upon the shore in Kingston? He kept following the lights until the colours had become so intense that he had to stop in his tracks. What was this place?
Large structures that reached the clouds outlined the area, there were pictures - moving pictures! All of them were large and contrasting. Edward wanted to shut his eyes but only managed to grit his teeth, the noise was intense. The sound of a storm combined with the sounds of... whatever those moving land-ships were and the passers-by were so loud and intense. He did not recognize the accents of the people. They all dressed strangely, some even wore hoods like his own - perhaps the Assassin's had found him and brought him here, to this hub of sorts. Were they all so advanced, though? What were these things around him?
Still frozen in the place where he stood, he was pushed back by another. He muttered an apology, not fully grasping the situation. Edward ran up closer to the lights, evading the people around him. His head continued to throb as he ran, there was no choice but to stop. Breathing heavily, the young pirate paced slowly in a circle - 'American Eagle', 'Coca Cola', 'Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag', 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'? The names, the colours were everywhere and Edward had the slightest clue of what any of them were.
Edward needed help, he needed to find Thatch, Vane, Kidd or even Rackham. He wanted to yell for them but his throat was dry. It didn't seem like it would get him anywhere in this new place he was in, anyway. Edward always thought himself an intelligent man, one who could keep his wits about him but as of this moment, any common sense he had was gone. What the bloody hell was that moving picture and what on earth were all these lights? He had never seen anything like this, was he even in the same world? Edward scoffed at himself, placing his hands on his hips, of course it was the same world. It was just... different.
Standing in one spot would do him no good, he thought as he began move forward and wade through the crowd. Edward asked one of the people walking past him a question, "Pardon, where-"
The person, the bastard, walked right past him and gave him a look. He continued to start speaking but people kept walking by him and eyeing him strangely. He grunted, pushing himself through the crowd roughly trying to find where the end of it was. He stopped again and brought his hand to his head, he must have injured himself badly but it seemed that one wished to help him. He spotted a place in the distance, a tavern of sorts, there was a green mermaid as a sign. Edward starting to quicken his pace, trying to reach this tavern and ask the barman for aid.
When he did get to the place, he noted the taverns name - 'Starbucks'. Strange, he thought, why not call it 'The Siren' or 'Mermaid's Cove' and what did a mermaid have to do with a star? He put his hand out and it met a cold surface, there appeared to be a glass surface blocking his entrance to the tavern. He brought his face closer to the window, there were strange patrons in this place. Some men donned the beards of pirates and wore such tight-clothes and some women had such strange coloured hairs. Edward scrunched up his nose and laughed, what strange people. He tapped the glass in hope that the odd lot of patrons would notice him, buy him a drink and help him.
From where she sat in the cafe, Katherine spotted a strange hooded man poking at the glass. She could not tell if the look on his face was one of merriment or confusion, perhaps it was both. His attire, though obscure and odd, was familiar to her. He must have been one of those people that wonder Time Square dressed up as the character of their choice and take photos with people. Although, Katherine wondered why he was still at it in the middle of a storm. She put down her coffee and stared at him, her nose scrunched up as she watched him in awe. She still could not tell if he was happy and laughing or in pain and confused. The one thing she did know was that he was in fact acting incredibly strange.
Katherine felt a pang of sadness, he was probably homeless or living in dire conditions. It would explain why he was dressed like that in the storm, to find a source of income. A part of her wanted to help him, he looked like he needed help but Katherine was scared. He could be anybody, anything and she would be walking up to him without protection. No, she thought, it's not right - I need to see what this is and I need to give him the benefit of the doubt. If he was just a slightly insane man who needed to be set in the right direction, Katherine could easily be the one to do that. She boldly rose from her seat, taking her bag and umbrella with her. Pushing the door open as she did the same for her umbrella, Katherine took a few steps outside. She sighed, I hope I don't regret this.
"Sir, are you alright? Can I help you?" She questioned the man, eyeing him as if he was a lunatic.
"Aye, lass." He looked at her and smiled, Katherine lowered her hands and slowly approached him.
"Okay," She smiled softly, "Do you... have a name?"
"Edward. Edward Kenway." He spoke proudly but Katherine shook her head and took a few steps back.
She could not see his face well enough to tell whether he was lying or not. He must have been dedicated, committing himself so completely to his temporary guise. Katherine did not know whether or not she should playing along or pursue his real identity, she had already gone out of comfort zone asking if he was alright and did not need to be assaulted in an alleyway because she pried too much.
She arched a brow, inwardly cringing at her actions, "Right... What about your real name?"
The man scoffed, pulling his hood back a bit to reveal his features. He wore a puzzled expression and Katherine knew that she did as well. It was striking really, his resemblance to the concept art and character of Edward Kenway. He was just as devilishly handsome as the pirate she had played as and if she wasn't convinced that something was wrong with him, she may have been remotely attracted by the man. He even had the scar, though it was probably done with some sort of water-proof make-up.
His answer came out in a gruff tone and narrowed his eyes, "That is my real name, lass, and yours?"
"I-uh, I'm Katherine Va- Uh, Katherine. Just Katherine."
"A pleasure to meet you, Katherine, though I wish it was under better circumstances. I'm afraid I seek aid."
"Aid? Are-are you hurt?" Katherine stumbled over her words, suddenly feeling as if she was speaking with a man who had been in a drunken brawl.
"Aye, I believe I hurt my head when I jumped off the ship and have no real recollection of how I got here... where ever this is. I need to go back to Havana, to the Jackdaw. Can you help me, lass?"
Katherine's eyes widened, the man truly believed himself to be a fictional video game character. She instantly regretted her actions, wanting to head back into the cafe in fear of becoming one of those strange murder victims in an episode of Law & Order. She had to admit though, there was glimmer of sincerity in his eyes, as if this was a truth that he completely and utterly believed in. Well, he doesn't seem overly crazy and I don't want to turn him away only to hear that something terrible had happened to him on the news, she said to herself. Katherine needed to be rational, he said his head was hurt when he jumped off a ship... that could mean that he hurt his head in a car accident, perhaps? Nevertheless, she could help him - take him to a doctor, get him fixed up and leave to never be seen again.
"Okay. Before we get you to Havana, how about we take you to a hospital - get your head checked out?"
He stared at her blankly, "Hospital?"
Katherine mirrored his look, "A hospital is a place where doctors are, they have records of you and try to help you. You have to pay them and you get out. Refresh your memory?"
"No but I'd rather this hospital doesn't keep records of me. Besides, I have no reales on me."
She nodded, being smaller in stature, Katherine was in no state to argue with the man. If he didn't want to go, there was nothing she could do. There was only one place she could think of going and that was her own home. She had a first-aid kit there and had taken a few classes that gave her some knowledge on how to fix people. For a journalist, she could be a decent enough medic. She struggled with the idea of it though, this man didn't want to be identified for some reason and he had clearly been in a fight - did she want him in her home? He would know where she lived, he could sneak in and take her things or worse. His mentioning of reales was just as strange. Katherine bit down on her lip, there was no right choice in the matter. Part of her wanted to leave him there, tell him that she couldn't do anything to help him but the other half wanted to help him, she had spotted him after all and he didn't seem a bad person.
I'm going to regret this whole night, she thought. "Do you live around here? If you have a first-aid kit at yours, I can patch you up and be on my way."
"I'm not too sure where 'around here' even is, lass. So, no, I don't."
Katherine huffed and wanted to cringe, she was digging a hole for herself - she had picked up a shovel the moment she left the cafe. "Why… Uh, why don't you come to my place then? I can fix you up and then take you to hotel after?"
This Edward fellow gave her a weary look as if she was the mad person. "Hotel? Is that like an inn?"
"Yes, exactly."
"Aye, a fine deal. I can do that. If it's not too much ask, I have another favour. Once we're done can you help me locate the Jackdaw?"
Katherine chuckled softly, though it subdued and she furrowed her brow as she noticed his serious expression. "Oh? You're serious? I... I don't think you'll be getting back to this boat of yours anytime soon. Even if it does exist, I'm hardly the person to help you find it. You need to contact the navy or something."
"It's a ship, not a boat." He snapped at her, "How dare you say such things of its existence. You know nothing. The Jackdaw is real, it's my ship and I'm not going to this navy to find it! You'll take me to Havana."
She took a few steps back, "I'm sorry sir, I don't think I can do this, actually. I'm sor-"
"Jaysus, woman." He snarled, pulling her close to him and revealing a hidden blade, "You're going to take me to this place of yours and then you're going to help me. I may be a pirate but I don't appreciate it when people go back on their word."
His eyes were mad, like a raging sea, she thought. Had she not been so paralysed in fear, Katherine may have screamed for help. She imagined that from the way the stood so closely to each other, people would brush it off as a lovers quarrel and not bother at all. The umbrella she held up concealed them slightly, he could kill her and no one would see it. Katherine, confused and scared as the man she tried to help, nodded vigorously in hope that her compliance would save her life.
"Y-yes. Right, I'm sorry, I'll do it."
