Revolutionary Tactics

by Project X

March 23, 1775 is the day most Americans remember as Mister Patrick Henry's speech. "Give me Liberty or Give me Death!" However what most Americans don't know is that very day, in the shadows of Richmond's streets, there was a man watching over all. There was also a young woman running away from British soldiers after calling them numbskulls. Obviously she's a bit out of her time

2. Training Kyle

-Revised Edition-

Author's Note: The first few chapters I have only training planned. It'll jump from day to day until I can put in some real interaction. But right now I'm just filling in and explaining how Kyle is trained. I hate to just 'poof' have her be a good Assassin. That just seems unrealistic to me.

If you have any questions please don't be afraid to ask.

Special thanks to:

Alpha Lima One: Well here's chapter 2, just for you! Thank you for being the first reviewer! I haven't gotten to Haytham yet but I'll be getting there soon.

LifeJumper123

Nerdman3000

kaylafig

PlutoAn

Portrait of a Scribe

BottlesandPills

ShinobiTwin05

SylphJr: For you, I will include any historic moment you want! I am planning on going into, or at least mentioning, everything in the Revolutionary Timeline, 'cause I'm crazy for this stuff too. ^_^ Thank you so much for reviewing and I'm so glad you like the story so far!

MzKita: You won't think she's lucky for long. Just wait 'till you see her training regiment! XD Thank you so much for reviewing it means a lot to me! ^_^

Katharonie

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS! Thank you, each and every one of you! I appreciate all the support I'm getting! You guys rock!

(A quick extra special thanks to Portrait of a Scribe –Who pointed out the spelling for Mohican- and to Alpha Lima One –For reminding me how to spell Abstergo-. My beta is busy playing AC 3 at the moment so…yeah, thanks you guys!)

NOW ENJOY!

-X-

Revolutionary Tactics

Chapter 2: Training Kyle

Davenport Homestead, April 3rd, 1775.

A week had come and gone. Plans of getting home put on temporary hiatus. Seven days of sleeping on a floor, eating rabbit, showering under a waterfall, wearing someone else's clothes, and lastly of extensive mental and physical training.

Achilles was relentless when it came to Basic English and Philosophy. It was easy enough, since I had taken eight or so years worth of English classes, but the fact he wanted me to speak what I learned was what made it hard. Every time I'd say guy or dude he'd whack me with his cane. I had a bump on the top of my head now the size of my fist. Old habits die painfully apparently.

Philosophy was interesting though; I knew tid-bits of it here and there but the large majority of it I didn't know. When speaking of Philosophy Achilles would go on and on, you could tell by his tone that Philosophy was one of his favorite subjects and his favorite Philosopher was Aristotle. He would talk for hours on end about Aristotle, and he didn't make it boring either, he had passion behind his words. They could sometimes be empowering.

On the physical side of my training Connor was a bit kinder. We had stuck to using early morning hunting as Assassin training. He started to show me how to track animals three days ago, he's been teaching me how to use snare traps and bait, as well as how to use the tomahawk for moving targets instead of trees. When the sun would rise we'd take what we'd killed to Myriam for skinning and distribution.

We'd have breakfast after that, and then it would be Achilles' turn to teach me something. Next we'd have lunch, after lunch Connor and I would go out to help anyone that needed it. Sometimes it'd be O'Donnell, other times it would be Norris trying to woo Myriam, and every once and a while it would be us trying to save Terry from the river. All the while we're doing these things Connor would try and teach me something. It'd always be something different too, sometimes something about speed and how to move with the water, or strength and how to strike a tree.

Sometimes, from the way he spoke, it felt like Connor was the one trying to teach me Philosophy. 'You must strike through the tree.' 'The water's rapids will show you the path.' Or something like that.

Today was no different, Connor still woke me before the crack of dawn, and we were out hunting. But something did feel different about today, I couldn't put my finger on it. It was like the wind had shifted or something, like a storm was coming in. Don't ask me to explain, it was more of a gut feeling than anything.

I was hiding in a bush, Connor above me in the trees. One day he'd have to teach me how to climb like that, but today I was the one with the bow, bait at my feet. A doe wasn't but two feet away from me, pecking at the grass.

She was big; she'd come up to a little taller than my waist, not including her neck and head. I was on my knees, the dew on the grass making my jeans wet. My hands were placed on the bow just like how I practiced; the doe was starting to scent the air, smelling the bait.

As she started to get closer I pulled back on the string, arrow already at the ready. I looked down at what were basically my sights, aiming the arrow directly at the doe's heart. Suddenly she stopped and sniffed the air again, I didn't move a muscle knowing that if I did she would know where I was.

My heart was steady; I breathed in through my nose and smelled the morning forest air. I wondered what it was that she could smell; if she could actually smell me? When the doe stopped and started trotting towards me again that's when I let the string go and the arrow fly. It hit dead center at its mark, piercing the deer's heart.

She went down flailing like a fish out of water, but then she abruptly stopped and laid deathly still. That's when Connor jumped down from the tree and I stood up from the bush. As Connor walked over to the deer he patted my shoulder in congratulations. I smiled, proud that I was actually getting something right for once.

The doe was the last catch of the morning, the sun rising steadily over the trees now. As we headed back to Myriam's, arms full of rabbits, foxes, or deer I saw the cliff side. We had passed by the Aquila earlier and that had been the first time I'd really gotten a good look at her. But now, as we strode past the cliffs, I could see the sun rising above the water, the light waves from the wind reflected the golden rays, those rays shined down upon the Aquila beautifully. It was a sight to behold.

I found myself stuck there, watching the sun rising from the edge of the cliff, unable to take my eyes away.

"It is beautiful." Connor suddenly said beside me, I jumped a bit having forgotten he was there. But when I looked up I could see Connor's peaceful expression as he looked out over the lake. The sun was reflected in his deep brown-amber eyes.

It felt so strange, to look up at a person that a month ago you thought was fictional. It was surreal, but after what seemed like the last two weeks, now it felt like he was what was real all along and that I had been the one living in a dream. But this, seeing this, made all of the home sick feelings I'd been enduring worth it.

I coughed politely in my hand to get Connor's attention; he looked down at me and I motioned towards the end of the cliff. No words need be said.

-X-

After breakfast it was Achilles' turn again. Today was about the basic premise of math and how to use it. Math, however, in the seventeen hundreds is a lot simpler than it is in two thousand and twelve. It was a little bit more complicated than adding and subtracting but easy nonetheless.

So afternoon came pretty quickly this time around, as there were no lectures or long-winded speeches to sit through, just math. When noon finally did come around though we had something other than rabbit for lunch, it was deer meat instead. I had to admit, even though I have never been a big fan of deer meat, it was a huge improvement over rabbit.

It wasn't 'till after lunch that something different started happening.

"Come again?"

"I said for you to walk around the coast of Davenport a hundred times, perhaps you should have your ears examined. I was very clear the first two times I am sure."

Okay, I was having a mini heart attack. Imagine, or really remember how big Davenport is, it takes even Connor a little while to run around the whole place. Now imagine unfit little me having to walk that distance a hundred times. I would die from heat and exhaustion! All I could do was just stare at Connor as if he had just served my death sentence.

"If you believe yourself incapable I could shorten it to fifty, no less. Your legs are weak; you could not even run from those soldiers but for a little while. The stronger you become the easier it will be for you to climb and to withstand long durations of-"

"I'll have more stamina." I put it in a nutshell for Connor as I put my hands to my hips, pouting. I knew he was right, he was almost always right. And even though it would be tough I promised to give my Assassin training my all. So I sighed and nodded. "Okay, fifty today, fifty tomorrow, and fifty until I actually think I can make a hundred. How does that sound?" I looked up at Connor expectedly, hoping that he was okay with this plan.

He nods with his arms crossed. "That will do." Then Connor is taking the dagger out of his hidden blade. One day I'd have to ask who came up with that one, an eject-able hidden blade. It comes in quite handy from what I've noticed. "Here," Connor then hands me the blade and I clumsily hold it. "You might need this."

And with that Connor left me gaping. 'Really? You're just going to leave me here to die? What a world!'

-X-

Clean drinkable water was very easy to find in the forest. This place was yet to be hit by pollution and desecration. So the water was still perfect, clear and see-through. It was beautiful; I could even see the little fish at the bottom of the stream.

Also there were trees everywhere blocking the sun's light from hitting me. It filtered through the branches and leafs but I was never hit directly by the rays. The trees would range from pines to oaks, some standing tall and thick while others were short and skinny, all of them had branches full of evergreen leafs.

So I wasn't going to die from heat stroke or dehydration, it wasn't hot enough and there was plenty of water. But there were in fact bears, wolves, and angry bucks out here that could rip me to shreds. The knife was a necessity and it already came in handy.

I needed a walking stick so I just used the knife and cut a branch off of a tree, that's what I've used this hidden blade knife for so far. Sometimes I hated how bad my priorities were. ' I used the only thing standing between me and death to cut down a stick. Nice.'

I sighed, already very tired. It was my twentieth walk about, stick in hand I was ready to pass out in the lake. Really it wasn't even the fact I was tired that was driving me nuts it was the lack of company. Usually I was used to being this alone for only a little while, but being in Connor's presence almost constantly for the last two weeks has driven my need for companionship.

So when Norris shows up out of nowhere I could honestly say I was happy to see him. For some reason he was leaning against a tree, looking up into the sky. My brow rose as I watched him. I walked over to him and just kind of…stared.

That is until curiosity got to me. "Norris? What 'ya doin?" I asked like Isabella from 'Phineas and Ferb' would have. I even tilted on the balls of my feet as I leaned forward. Norris didn't look away from whatever he was gazing at, but he did raise his hand to shush me.

"I am watching a Red Bird." Norris' Canadian accent was thick but I could still understand him. And yet I didn't quite get it. I just kept waiting for him to explain, I actually had to wait a while; he was very focused. "It iz a hobby of mine. Bird watching." He finally elaborated and I nodded.

'Looks like you learn something new every day.' I paused for a second after that thought and scrunched my eyes together. 'Literally.' I then shook my head and just watched Norris for another few minutes before walking again.

"It iz going to storm." Norris was suddenly walking with me as he spoke; I jumped back and fell over backwards at the abrupt surprise. I was really going to have to learn to be less jumpy if I was going to be an Assassin. Norris helped me back up and I brushed myself off. "The Red Bird, it waz preparing for a storm." He added as we began to walk again.

I looked over at him, head tilted, brow raised. "So, you're that avid of a bird watcher? Didn't think you were the type. I thought you just liked to blow stuff up." I admitted and turned my head back, hands in my blue jean pockets as I looked forward, lip puffed up in thought.

I then hear Norris gasp in playful surprise beside me, I smirk at that. "I am refined, I'll have you know! I have been bird watching for years!" He stated, pretending to be aghast. But then there is a pause and very quietly and distantly Norris says: "My father taught me how."

I look over at Norris when he says that, taken aback by his straightforward words. The sentence is not said sadly so I imagine that, by the way his eyes gazed distantly forward, he was remembering a pleasant memory. When Norris looked back over at me he smiled.

I smiled back at him. "My dad taught me how to hunt, actually." Now I'm the one remembering, distantly, sadly. I remember the forest my dad would take me to, the rifle he would use, the smell of leather and gasoline. "It was the last thing my dad ever taught me really." I admit, almost silently.

The smile falls from Norris' face suddenly, and there is sympathy in his eyes. I smile again to reassure him that I was okay. He smiles back reluctantly.

"Hey," I say happily to break the tension between us. "Why don't you tell me more about yourself? Prove to me you're as refined as you say." I challenge Norris, as I turn around and start walking backwards in front of him.

Norris' gaze goes up to the sky as he thinks; he rubs his chin then starts to scratch at the little red hat on his head. He smirks as he thinks of where to start.

"Well," He drew out the word, as his smile grew bigger. "It all started-"

And from there on Norris told me a story, one that was full of fights with dragons, beautiful princesses, and a handsome knight. I didn't believe a word of it, I also don't really remember any of it. But as Norris finished his story I finished my fifty laps.

When all was said and done I said goodbye to Norris and headed back to the manor. Another day, another time I pass out before making it past the door. But in the long run it was a day I'd never take back.

-X-

Davenport Homestead, April 6th, 1775.

All four days I go hunting, I learn, and I walk those fifty laps. By the fourth day I don't pass out in the doorway anymore, by the third week I know Philosophy like the back of my hand, and on the fourth day of the third week it rains.

The little red bird was right. A huge storm swept in-land like fog over a moor, silently and suddenly. It rained hard enough to rock the roof of the manor. The wind was bad too, shaking the windows to near shattering. I felt bad for Myriam and Norris and wondered how they were fairing during the storm.

Connor still wanted to go out to hunt that morning but Achilles stopped him. There was a big fight between the two downstairs for the duration of breakfast. When the yelling stopped Connor came upstairs and sat down on his bed. He didn't brood like I thought he would, he grabbed a book and read in silence instead.

I felt very awkward just sitting on my blanket, which still served as my bed, beside an angry Connor. I sighed, needing something to do to preoccupy my mind. What I ended up doing was grabbing my mechanical pencil that had come from my magic future pocket, and my sketchbook. I sat down below one of the windows, my back to the wall as I started to sketch Connor reading. Oddly, it was almost like he knew I was sketching him, because he didn't move a muscle.

It stormed all day long, never letting up not once. Connor ended up reading the entire time I was sketching him. You would think he was reading a dictionary it was so long. Every once and a while I'd pause and wonder what Achilles was doing. It should have been time for lunch a while ago but I hadn't seen hid nor hair of him since breakfast.

I hated the fact that Connor couldn't always see eye to eye with Achilles. I hated it when people would yell at each other; I'd always feel responsible some how. It'd just crush me, I guess, in some way.

When I finished the sketch I was fairly happy with it, and that was saying something. I usually hate everything I do, I was my own worst critique, you know? But whenever I actually liked it that meant it turned out pretty good, in my opinion.

So I closed the sketchbook and hoped that no one would ever see that sketch but me. Now I had nothing else to do, Connor was still brooding and who knew what Achilles was doing. I bit my lip as I just sat there, sketchbook in my lap, as I tried to think of something else to do.

I don't know why but I just found myself staring at Connor, not that I hadn't been earlier, but I was really analyzing him. This lead to wondering about his bloodline, usually that would lead to me thinking about Desmond but instead I thought about Ziio. Ziio was what Haytham had called Connor's mom, I remembered how awesome she was and how much trouble I had had understanding her when she spoke Mohican.

That thought lead to wondering about the Mohican language, and lastly it lead to the urge to know more about the Mohican tongue. I wanted to know some of the Mohican speech, if not so I could communicate with Connor secretly but also so that I could understand the culture better.

I am a knowledge monster after all.

"Connor?" I called to him gently, not sure how angry he still was. Connor only shifted and made a 'hmm' noise. I took a deep breath, hoping Connor would take this question well. I wasn't really prepared to have a tomahawk in my skull, not that he was carrying one on him at the moment. "Could you-" I paused, eyebrows scrunched together as I tried to figure out how to say this. "Would you teach me how to, or some of the-" I paused again, this time I looked up to see Connor giving me a spit-it-out-already look. "Would you mind teaching me some Mohican?" I finally asked then prepared to have a face full of rope dart.

"Why?" Was all that was said, Connor speaking the word confusedly and gently. I think he could sense how nervous I was, as he was treating me like a frightened fawn. 'Oh boy, he's rubbing off on me.'

"I just-" How could I explain to him that I just really wanted to know without offending him? Oh I know! LIE. "I thought it should be something to know. Learning about new cultures is always important, right? But I guess I really want to know because I thought…. I might talk… to you in…your native tongue?" The last sentence came out shaky, as if I was admitting a dark secret. I guess I had been lying to myself, because really I just wanted to hear Connor talk in his native language.

There was a bout of silence for a moment. I could hear Connor's gears turning in his head again as he thought. After a while I thought maybe he just decided to ignore me. That is until he grabbed the hand crafted quilt from his bed and brought it over to me. He sat crossed legged in front of me and pointed to a yellow patch on the quilt.

"Otsinekwar." Connor said the word so fast I couldn't catch any of it. I got that it was the Mohican word for yellow but it just sounded like a crunching noise to me.

"Could you…. pronounce that please?" I asked looking back up at Connor from where I had been looking at the quilt. Connor nodded and pointed at a blue color on the quilt.

"Otsinekwar and oròn:ya." When saying the first word Connor would point at the yellow patch, when saying the second he'd point at the blue. "Ot-sin-ek-war." He said slowly as he pronounced the word.

I nodded and tried to repeat what he had said. "It-en-ik-or." It was more difficult than one would think, but I was trying.

"Ot-sin-ek-war." Connor repeated, going slower and sounding it out more deeply.

I tried to concentrate on what he was saying, but I kept getting distracted by, well, him. "Ot-sin-ik-war. No wait!" I yelled suddenly, excited as I think I finally got it, something popping into place in my mind. "Ot-sin-ek-war! Otsinekwar!" I shouted and Connor smiled at my success.

During while it was storming outside, or really for the rest of the day Connor taught me many different Mohican words. He taught me all the words for different colors and for numbers. He also taught me okwaho; which was the Mohican word for wolf. Connor had already noticed my favoritism towards the animal. He understood it too; I didn't have to explain it to him like I did other people.

I practiced the words in my head over and over again every chance I got. I wanted to impress Connor, desperately apparently. Maybe it was because he was my teacher, or maybe there were other reasons, but no matter what it was I worked hard to go beyond the norm.

In the end I distracted Connor from his not-brooding brooding and made him smile, and really that's all that mattered.

-X-

Davenport Homestead, April 7th, 1775.

The next day the storm was completely gone. The only evidence left behind that it was ever here was the over flowing streams and the messed up wooden houses. Norris' place, as he lives above the mine, was fine, just a little wetter than usual. Myriam's shack however was a little less for wear and O'Donnell's brick house was untouched.

We hunted longer than usual that morning as we were making up for the hours lost yesterday. After breakfast we helped Myriam re-build certain parts of her house. Terry, Godfrey, Norris, and Lance all came to help too. We got done in record time and Myriam was very thankful, she promised us all furs as repayment. The others said there was no repayment needed but I was happy to take the fur blanket she promised me.

Now usually after lunch I'd do my laps but today Godfrey and Terry extended an invitation to both Connor and me, they asked us if we wanted to go swimming with them and the others. The both of them had been complaining about the heat the entire time we were fixing Myriam's house. So after we were done they announced they were going swimming, to cool off in the lake and that everybody else was welcome to join them.

Connor was iffy about it at first, but then I grabbed his sleeve and gave him puppy dog eyes. He raised a brow and asked me what I was doing; I sighed and begged him to let us go swimming. He gave in and we went swimming!

I ended up swimming in another of Connor's shirts, one of the bigger ones that I had been using as a nightshirt. When we got there everyone but O'Donnell was present and swimming around in the lake. Even Mister Faulkner showed up, drunk on Rum mind you, but he still ended up swimming with us.

The entire time we were in the lake Godfrey and Terry were trying to wrestle each other, Norris was sighing wistfully while watching Myriam, and Connor was having me swim laps! I get one day off and the evil Indian has me swimming thirty laps! I nearly drown ten times! Especially since I only knew how to doggy paddle! So because of that Connor was trying to teach me how to properly swim. 'Can we say super awkward? Good.'

Just pictures it in your mind. Fewer clothes, barely any space between us, while were both completely drenched. There you go! Just got it didn't you.

Luckily that didn't last too long, I was able to pick up his swimming technique pretty quickly. The next thing though was the fact he insisted on swimming beside me and doing the laps with me. I kept running into him while I tried to swim! I felt things! And no, not that! Get your mind out of the gutter!

When the sun was starting to go down everyone called it a day. Connor and I headed back to the manor and over supper told Achilles of how the day had gone. We had vegetables that night instead of meat, I was very thankful for that. All and all though the day was a nice change of pace.

-X-

Davenport Homestead, April 10th, 1775.

It's been a little over a month now since I came to be here, in the past, in a different reality. Each day that passes it seems less and less like I'll ever get home. Each week that passes I care less and less about that fact. Davenport really did seem like home to me now. The days were longer here, the month had felt like a year, and I feel like I have slotted into Homestead like a piece into a puzzle.

The daily routine was basically bred into me now, like living in Boot Camp. Connor no longer had to wake me up in the mornings, now I got up at exactly the same time he did. Hunting was becoming second nature to me; I could almost catch anything on my own now. Not including wolves, if I could I was going try to avoid killing any wolves. The better I got at hunting the more we brought back with us to Myriam's.

Myriam even requested that I hunt with her everyone once in a while. She thought it would be good for me, hunting with a feminine equal. Connor however was iffy on that too. I didn't quite understand why but apparently Myriam did. The whole thing just left me confused. It was like an inside joke going right over my head.

-X-

Today during Achilles' lesson I was a bit distracted. Achilles had asked Connor to cut some wood for the fireplace, you know for the coming winter and fall months. Connor, for some inexplicable reason, thought it would be too hot to split wood in a shirt. So he was outside, in eyeshot of the window that I sat right next to during studies, shirtless and sweaty with the sun hitting him just right.

As you can imagine I wasn't paying a lick of attention to Achilles. And he noticed, oh did he notice!

I was staring, wide eyed, out the window. My chin resting on my hand as I tried to pretend I was listening and engrossed in Achilles' History lesson.

"And that is when-" Achilles paused and glanced over at me. His glance quickly turned into a glare when he noticed that I was completely ignoring him. Achilles then trudged over to me and followed my line of sight. As soon as he put two and two together he whacked me as hard as he could on the back of the head with his cane.

"Ow!" I yelped, getting shocked out of my drooling escapades. I rubbed the back of my head and looked up confusedly at Achilles. I hadn't even really noticed that I was staring.

Achilles walked over to the window and closed the blinds then limped right back over to the table, where his large history filled book lay, and he yelled: "Pay attention!" Very angrily I might add.

'Well at least he didn't say there was going to be a test. Thank god pop quizzes don't exist yet!' I thought as I hopped right back into the lesson, trying to ignore the images of Connor shirtless that kept popping into my head.

Tan skin.

Muscular arms.

Sweaty muscular tan chest.

Sweaty shiny skin.

That chest!

'Oh my God I'm screwed!'

-X-

Achilles' lesson went a bit slower that day, as I couldn't get that image out of my mind. It bugged me like a bee in my ear. It just wouldn't go away, no matter what I did.

What made it worse was when my training with Connor came around. He cut my laps in half today and decided to give me climbing pointers. This would also become routine, my new routine. I would still run laps but now I would also practice climbing trees. Connor said if I could climb trees and cliffs than climbing houses would be easier for me.

It's harder than you think though, climbing trees. My first time trying to follow Connor up a tree I ended up with two palm fulls of splinters. Connor helped me pluck each one out, and trust me when I say that it hurt. That's when I got the idea of using my fingerless gloves. After putting those on it was much easier for me to climb. From then on I decided to wear those everyday, it'd help me to climb and help protect my hands. My fingers, however, would still end up getting hurt.

I still couldn't quite get it the first day. Every time I tried to climb up I'd fall right back down again. At least three times I fell flat on my back and got the wind knocked out of me. It wasn't until the sun went down that I started to get the hang of it.

We'd try again tomorrow but until then it was time for supper. We had some type of chili soup stuff, it was good but I decided to keep my mental health intact by not asking what was in it. Achilles asked how training went and as a reply I showed him my beat up, calloused, bruised, and bloody hands. He stated that I should probably clean the wounds; pour some alcohol on it (which I had no idea Achilles had a cabinet full of Scotch), and to wrap some bandages around both my palms.

I was fully prepared to do all that myself after supper, but Connor stopped me and instructed me to go up to our bedroom-Oh don't even get me started on that- and to sit down on the bed. I did as told but cautiously. In the end he brought up what could be classified as a first aid kit, in the seventeen hundreds, up to the room. Basically that means a bottle of Scotch, a wet washcloth, bandages, and salve.

Salve, if you don't know, is a type of ointment made out of many different herbs and several other things. Its texture is like lotion and its color is white. It feels warm and gooey though, like a dog just slobbered all over your hand. Salve is used a lot now a-days but people in modern era like using prescription medicine instead of this stuff. It's supposed to speed up the healing process by about ten times, at least that's what they say.

And there is a small entry from my brain, the Encyclopedia of Useless Knowledge!

So I sat on the bed while Connor tenderly tended to my wounds. That fuzzy feeling in my gut had made a huge come back. It felt like I had swallowed a kitten, and no I would never actually do that! That's just how it felt. I wanted to squirm and feel awkward but out of respect for Connor I stayed completely still and breathed in deeply.

"Connor?" I watched Connor's hands carefully, hoping to absorb the knowledge of how to wrap a bandage properly.

"Hmm?" Connor hummed back, he really wasn't much for deep verbal conversation, unless it was an argument or debate about something, and then he'd start using big words. It was a bit strange. Not that I didn't highly respect him for always standing up for what he believed in.

"What's the Mohican word for brother?" I asked, having something specific in mind for his response. I had already basically memorized the other words he had taught me, some new words were in order.

"Tsi'a." Connor replied as he finished bandaging my hands. He even made sure to put the right amount of salve on my poor beaten fingers. When he was finally done he got up and went to put the excess stuff away.

While he was gone and the room was silent, I whispered it, just to see how it would sound. "Tsi'a." To me, Connor was becoming my Tsi'a. To me Connor was becoming my brother.

-X-

Davenport Homestead, April 18th, 1775.

It was a little before noon when Connor came stomping back into the manor. From where I was reading my assigned history book in the dining room I could hear Achilles and Connor talking. When I heard Connor come marching back down the stairs, Assassin robes on, I got curious.

I closed the book and headed Connor off before he could get to the door. I couldn't really see how he was looking at me, as he had his hood on, but I knew he wasn't too happy about being stopped.

"Where are going?" I asked, confused. I wondered what day it was then, as dates had not really been of much concern to me lately, however, I had a feeling they would be now.

"Mister Adams has requested my presence." Connor explained, then put one hand on my shoulder and leaned closer to me. Our faces were only inches apart. "I will be back soon. Until then continue as you have." He patted that same shoulder, and then was about to make his way out the door.

That is, until I grabbed his sleeve. "Wait! Let me come with you!" I begged. I knew Connor would be fine, if I was right he was just going to help Paul Revere in his Midnight Ride. But I really did want to go; meeting historical figures was always an interesting experience.

Connor swiftly turned his arm around, throwing off my grip; he grabbed my arm back, and then just as swiftly I found myself in an iron tight headlock. Connor's arms felt like they were made of stone as he held me in place. There was a quick yelp from me before I went deathly silent and still. I wanted to be afraid, I wanted to be terrified, but I was none of those things. That was the moment I realized, for some unfathomable reason, that I completely trusted Connor. When had that even started to develop?

"Escape from my arms and I will let you come." I could hear the teasing in his voice and the grin that was there, he knew I couldn't, he was just trying to prove a point.

I sighed and tried to struggle away, but no matter how much I squirmed I couldn't move an inch. I pouted then, in pure five-year-old outrage. "Fine!" I huffed and stomped. "You win! But next time I am so tagging along!" I exclaimed and Connor gently let me go.

That's when something I didn't see coming happened. Connor hugged me, and I don't mean a half hug, I mean a full on hug! Like the whole two arms around me in a bear hug type thing. It lasted about a second, and then he was gone. I probably stood there blushing for about five minutes before I uttered: "Goodbye Tsi'a." And then the door to the manor was closed and I went back to studying.

I couldn't stop thinking about how warm it was, being enveloped in his arms. Just thinking about it made me miss my brother at home. I prayed that he was okay, and then that was the end of that.

-X-

Everything was so much quieter without Connor at the manor. After lunch Achilles went to go see to the horses, a favorite pastime of his was taking care of Ari, the tan colored mustang he had. I offered to help but Achilles declined saying I needed to start my physical training, on my own. It just didn't have as much appeal when Connor wasn't around. But in the long run I did the laps and went back to practice climbing trees.

Eight days ago I couldn't scale an inch up a tree, now I could almost scale a whole tree. Well, the smaller trees anyway. What I had a problem with was flow, I could hop from tree to tree sure, but not for very long. I'd lose my balance a lot and nearly break my neck falling down. I was very tempted to skip tree climbing training today, without Connor around to catch me I'd probably get myself killed.

But what I decided to do was to only stick to the smaller trees. It made things a lot easier and it still classified as training. Another thing was without Connor around pointing things out and stopping me to say something, I got done a lot sooner. I was done before the sun fell down behind the horizon. So I decided to sketch some, since it had been weeks since I had last been able too.

For good practice I decided to sketch the Aquila. It was the perfect time of day to do it too, the sun still up but not enough so to blind me. I could see every detail and line that made up the Aquila. It was stationed at the docks on the lake beyond the cliff. I sat on a rock just at the edge of that cliff, the perfect viewpoint.

My only complaint was that I wish I had bigger paper. Also, I just had a horrible thought; my mechanical pencil is going to run out of lead soon! I guess the sketch I did of Connor took a lot of the pencil, and I won't ever be able to refill it.

The sun was lower behind the Aquila as I finished. I made the last mark before getting up, and then I nearly jumped back in surprise. If I hadn't trained myself to stop right before I go to jump back last second then I'd be falling a hundred feet headfirst right now. Achilles had been standing directly behind me, for God only knows how long. When he saw how surprised I was to see him he smirked.

"How-" I paused, just kind of making surprised yet in awe noises with my mouth. A good way to define it was my tongue going up and down in my throat, making noises similar to what a dead cat would sound like. Again, I did not swallow a kitten! "How did you do that?" I was finally able to ask, holding my sketchbook close.

"Well," Achilles grunted as he sat down where I had been sitting earlier. He looked out distantly across the lake, a sigh leaving his lips. "This Old Man still has a few tricks up his sleeve." He stated tiredly.

I stepped up behind him and kneeled down to sit beside him. He was just watching the setting sun, the flowing water, the Aquila. He was just watching, like an old Eagle will. It was a while before he spoke up again.

"So, what have you been working on?" Achilles held out his hand and I knew he was talking about my sketch. He wanted to see my sketchbook. I was very reluctant to hand it to him, but Achilles had only ever asked so little of me, I couldn't hold out on him now. So I gently handed the sketchbook to him and he took it carefully. He opened it and flipped through the pages, making humming noises as he looked at each sketch.

I, however, was now huddled in a fetal position rocking back and forth like a crazy person. I had this thing about people seeing my work, or about people touching my stuff. There was a horrible Doofenshmirtz style back-story attached to the feelings, that I'd really rather not get into.

That was when Achilles got to the sketch of Connor that I did. He stayed on that one for a while and didn't make a single sound. This made my gut churn, I couldn't stand the anxiety I was feeling. I just had to stand up and move my legs.

"This is very good." The words are deep, his tone light, as if he really meant it, as if he was struck by awe, this gave way to a pause. I stopped abruptly and looked over at him, shocked by the statement. Before I can really say anything back to him he's flipped over to the sketch of the Aquila. "You are more fit to be an artist than an Assassin." Achilles closes the sketchbook gently and stands. I stand directly in front of him, he has to tilt his head up just a little to look me in the eye, but when he does he says: "But we are happy to have you."

Before I can say anything, Achilles has slotted the sketchbook back into my hand and is walking away. I do not go after him; I just stand there, watching the high tide come in. I never thought in a hundred years I'd hear that from Achilles, so really I'm just…gonna stand here for a little while.

-X-

Davenport Homestead, April 19th, 1775.

Connor is not back before early morning. Achilles is slightly on edge when I see him in the sitting room as I leave to go hunt before dawn breaks. I try to still my worries but it's always been hard for me to silence my mind. So I push it to the back, and focus on the task at hand.

The woods are still that morning, almost completely silent. I try and concentrate on catching as much prey as I possibly can, but it's difficult when all I can think about is Connor. Today, if I remember right, is the battle of Lexington and Concord; 'The Shot Heard 'round the World'. And I was worried that Connor might get himself into trouble.

But even if I could go and find him, what help would I be? Sure I could run but I didn't even have a weapon to my name, well I had a hunting bow that was about it. If I tried taking out an army of Redcoats who had muskets while all I had was some rinky-dink arrows I'd be ripped asunder. Point being I would be absolutely no help to Connor what-so-ever, I needed way more training before going out into the field.

I let out an unexpected sigh; the fox I had been hunting heard me and poked its head up. Before I could even pull the arrow back the fox was gone. I sighed again and let my arms fall. It was going to be a long morning.

-X-

I wasn't able to catch much but Myriam told me it would be enough. We actually still had a lot of meat left over from the last few days. Myriam informed me that ever since I had shown up the residents of Homestead always had some food to spare. That made me pretty happy, but didn't stop the gut wrenching worry I was feeling.

When it was time for Achilles' lessons he informed me that I had the day off and I found myself just wandering around Davenport instead. It was a beautiful day but I found everything lack luster. Since when did I need Connor to enjoy anything? How had he grown on me so quickly? Two months and I found myself always wanting to be by his side. Really it did in fact feel like two years instead of just two months.

I found myself stopping in the thickest part of the woods of Davenport. I slid down the tall oak I had used to train with what was practically my bow now, on my second day here. It really had felt like such a long time since then, it felt like forever ago that I was driving my mom's Buick around, it felt like eternity since I had pizza, and it felt like an insurmountable amount of time since I took a bath in a tub.

Sure, there was a place to wash up in the manor but I preferred the waterfall. Of course when winter comes around I'll have no choice but to use the old rusted thing of a bathtub.

How had Connor snuck under my skin so quickly? Well he is really good at stealth. I tilted my head to look up through the top of the oak's foliage. The sun glittered through the sections of the green leafs. It hurt my eyes to look up at the sunlight, but it felt calming too. I started to feel sleepy, my eyes closing without my consent. And suddenly I found myself sound asleep under that tree. Even though I wasn't tired.

-X-

It was dark at first. When I opened my eyes I thought I'd slept until night. This worried me, because if I had Achilles would rip me to pieces about it. But when I realized it wasn't so much as dark as there was no color, that's when I really started to panic.

I stood; I looked down only to see pitch-black darkness. I wasn't really sure if I was standing or not, it just felt like I was standing.

"Hello?" I called and my voice echoed.

"Hello."

I turned around abruptly to follow the voice. The figure I saw glowed, spilling color and light into the areas of absolute darkness. She looked…. No, she was Minerva.

I swallowed thickly, a horrible sensation burning inside of me. I believe it's called mortal terror… or hunger pains, I couldn't tell.

"M…M-M-Min-Miner-Minerva!" If it's possible to tremble the skin off your body I'm pretty sure I was close to doing that.

"Yes, and you have renamed yourself Kyle."

'Well no need for introductions.' I thought as the woman, who seemed to be more ghost like than presence, watched me.

"Why are you-"

"I am here to warn you Kyle. Ratohnhaké:ton is in danger."

I gasped, having my fears not only be true but that the message of it be sent to me by a person who supposedly died hundreds of thousands of years ago. Something bad was going down I could feel it!

"Why warn me? There's nothing I can do to help him!" I argued.

"But there is."

I blinked for one second and there was a sudden flash of white light. When my eyes were opened again I had four legs instead of two. I would have been shocked had I not seen this coming. Obviously Minerva wanted to send me a similar vision as Connor had been by Juno. I was starting to see the parallels and it was scaring me.

I was a wolf, Minerva more of a white glowing dove on my shoulder. When I looked around I was at home again. I was in my meadow and that machine that had sent me to the past was fully raised.

"There was more than one Time Displacement Piece. We made three long ago then scattered them across the world, hiding them underneath the surface until it was time for them to be used."

I walked around the machine gracefully on all four of my white paws. Then suddenly we were somewhere else. What seemed like a botanical garden?

"The second one was destroyed by what you would call Earthquakes."

Suddenly the scene began to shift and roll, I watched as the Time Displacement thingy in the botanical garden was destroyed.

"The third was discovered by those you call Templars, or as they are known more recently as Abstergo."

The scene in front of me changed one last time. I watched as men with swords and shields discovered the TDP. Time went by quickly and the next thing I knew an Abstergo building is being built around the TDP so that they could study it.

"The first was meant for you and you alone to discover."

Before I know it I have two legs again and the human looking Minerva floats in front of me.

"Why me?" I asked. "I'm not related to any Assassins! I don't have some mystic bloodline that can save the world!"

"You have knowledge."

It was Minerva's only answer to my question and that really confused me! I mean, remember what I said about being the Encyclopedia of Useless Knowledge? Yeah, well, that hadn't changed.

"You were chosen, that is all you need to know for now. All will be explained in time."

I sighed and rolled my eyes at the ancient figure.

"Oh, by the by, how did you get that Time Displacement thingy into a different reality anyway?"

I had to ask, because seriously? Time travel is one thing but Dimension travel is very much something else!

"We did not."

'Uh…. okay, that's not creepy and suspicious sounding.' I thought sarcastically.

"The reason I have showed you this is not for you to ask questions you need not the answers to! A Templar has discovered how to use the machine. They are here in this time, their goal is to kill you and Ratohnhaké:ton."

I found breath being caught in my lungs, my eyes widening, and heart pumping. Someone else was here from the future, but not to help little 'ole me, no God forbid that! No, it was a Templar with most likely futuristic weapons and lots of specialized training! And the kicker? Connor and me are their targets! One Indian with spades of training but no understanding of tech and one girl from the future who understands tech butt-louds but couldn't kill a stick if she tried!

'Were so screwed!'

"You must protect Ratohnhaké:ton! He will be at the historical sight of Lexington. You haven't much time, you must go!"

"But-"

-X-

I woke up gasping, trying to breath. My body felt like it was on fire, and I was sick to my stomach with nausea. And my head, my head felt like somebody had put a bomb in my ear and blown my brains out!

I could only imagine that these were the side effects of an Ancient One talking to you without the help of a Piece of Eden. If that was the case next time she could just call my cellphone!

As much as I felt like throwing up I had to push past it. I needed a horse and something handheld to protect myself with. The sun was still up over the forest, and I was still right where I remembered falling asleep, right under the oak.

What I hadn't remembered was the wolf that was sitting right in front of me. It sat there calmly, just staring at me as if analyzing me. It had something in its mouth too.

It walked up slowly and I tensed. Its eyes were an unbelievable blue color and that's when I realized that there was no way this was a full-blooded wolf. Sure it's coat and ears were exactly like a wolf, but it's eyes and the collar around it's neck proved other wise.

It walked up to me slowly, than begin to sniff me. I held out my palm carefully and it sniffed my palm. From where his head was tilted I could just make out the carving in its collar. It read; Balto. I laughed at the irony of that name.

"Okwaho erhar." I said wolf-dog in the Mohican tongue. Balto must have realized this as he looked up at me and dropped the thing he was carrying in his mouth into my hand. It was a dagger with the words Ga Okwaho on it. I didn't know what Ga meant but I could only reason that this had belonged to a Mohawk Indian, until that is; Balto here brought it to me. I ruffled his ears and thanked him for the dagger; it was exactly what I needed.

After that Balto barked and ran off back into the woods. I wondered then whom he belonged to but when I remembered the message Minerva had given me I shot up and started running toward the manor.

When I got inside Achilles was nowhere to be seen. Good! I didn't want him knowing what I was about to do. I ran down stairs into the basement and opened up the chest I had hidden my things inside. I got out my hoody and put it on, fully covering my face with the hood. Then I situated the bow back onto my back along with a full pack of arrows.

As soon as I was ready, dagger sheathed in my pocket and chest pushed back into it's hiding spot, I ran outside to the stables. This part I was nervous about. While I did grow up on a ranch surrounded by horses I had never ridden one before. In this case I was just going to have to be brave, suck it up, and get on.

Several of the horses were already saddled in the stables. I remembered Achilles talking about one horse in particular once though, a mustang named Shadow. It was the only all black horse in the stables. I remembered how he spoke of how fast she could run, and speed was key right now.

I found her quickly; she was in the first stall I looked in. Already saddled, I gently walked over to her. She didn't seem antsy or anything, she just stood there as if waiting for me to get on, I sighed a grateful breath at that.

One foot at a time I got into the stirrups and slung myself into the saddle. It seemed easy enough so far. Than I took the reins in hand and ushered her forward, when I did this she started walking straight into a gallop. Well, I needed her to go faster so I kicked her side a little bit. That worked, now she was running, and as long as I moved the reins where I wanted her to go that's where she'd run.

I picked up horse riding quickly, I was very thankful for that. And the next thing I knew we're heading towards Lexington, I only hoped I wasn't too late!

-X-

End Note: This one has a bit more to it then the last one. You remember how I said it was just going to be training for a little while? Well yeah, I guess it isn't. If there is anything in particular you'd like to see in this Templar agent from the future please tell me. 'Cause as is I got nothing.

If there are any certain pieces of the Revolutionary Timeline you'd like to see Connor and Kyle get involved in please tell me. And SylphJr if you could make a list of all the different bits of the Time Line you specifically wanted to see, that would help me greatly. ^_^

If any of you ever want to make a request don't be afraid to do so! I'm always happy to take 'em!

R&R Please!