A/N: Merry Christmas! A very short update, but with a good reason. I have been working hard on my Christmas fic, Asgeir and the Frozen Christmas for the past few weeks, and am now typing harder and faster than ever to have it finished by Boxing Day. It'll count for half of the flashbacks for this fic, as well as show some Christmas spirit. I've also been quite busy for the past few weeks with my job (I work nights), and it's given me little time to write anything in the past weeks. I'll try to work on getting more of this fic within the week. As for the starting scene, it's a reference to one of my own favorite scenes from Game of Thrones.

Chapter 6: Past-Rogue Part 1

Shay Patrick Cormac. Of all the most famous Assassins in the history of the Order, I think he stood out among them all. He was a former Assassin who became the Templar responsible for the First Purge. He killed so many of the Order, and nearly wiped out our efforts in the colonies. It's why I admire Connor Kenway so much. Because he dug us out of that pit that we were buried in. I may not have been alive when he saved us, but he was my brother all the same. Connor became the person I strived to be just like, and Shay became the perfect example of what I didn't want to see out of myself. To lose faith in the Creed is a perfectly reasonable course. We all face it in our lives. All of us. But to lose one's faith and pursue the course that held the whip is what made me lose all respect for him. And that is what made us so cautious about those who questioned the Creed. Who's to say the next person who lost their faith would become another Shay?

I held both the swords in my hands, feeling the moisture of my sweat on them. I had been holding them for quite sometime when I arrived. Anna Had requested that we start practice today, but she hadn't shown up yet. Oh, the irony.

At last, my dear half-sister appeared. Without turning my back from her, I said, "You're late." I turned. "What say tomorrow you are here at noon?"

Anna looked a little puzzled. I had little experience in teaching, but I knew that my kind of teaching was a bit firmer than which I actually was. Almost as though I became a completely different person when I taught.

I held out one of the wooden practice swords, and tossed the other towards Anna. She reached for it lazily, but could not grab it before it clattered to the ground loudly.

I tsked. "Assassins gotta have quicker reflexes than that. Let's try to catch it tomorrow." I nodded to the sword on the ground. "Pick it up."
Anna did so, but not properly. She grabbed it with both hands and held it very tightly. I shook my head.

"No. That's not the way. It's not a greatsword, so it shouldn't need two hands. See, I use two swords, one for each hand. One hand is needed, and one hand only."

Anna looked down on the wooden sword. I had it weighted for this specific purpose. "But it's too heavy."

I smirked. "It's only as heavy as it needs to be. I used a weighted sword like this for the same purpose you're going to use it: to make you strong."

I started walking around Anna in a circle. "Do you think that after using that same wooden sword for a month, a real one will be heavy as well?"

Anna shook her head. "No… I don't think so." Then she smiled, catching on.

I gestured for her to turn. "You're standing wrong as well. You're too much of an easy target! You know the right stance?"

Anna nodded, and turned with her right side facing me, and her sword in her left hand. Her grip looked a bit loose, but I knew that she could fix that too with my help.

I quickly measured with my own sword, noticing how Anna had the advantage in two ways. "You're skinny!" I said. "That's one way to make you a harder target. What about your grip?"

Anna held her hand out as she adjusted. It was just the way I wanted her to have it. I grinned. "Precisely. The grip must have a good balance between firm and gentle, as is our ways in our beliefs."

"But what if I drop it?"

To respond, I dropped the practice sword and whipped out my own cutlasses, I slashed with such accuracy, a few hairs of Anna's lovely red fell off. She barely had time to react before I sheathed my blades. "As a swordsperson, the steel is one with you."

Anna raised an eyebrow in thought. "Like a second head?"

I shrugged. "You can think of it like that, but I like to think of it more as an extra long, sharp arm."

Anna grinned. "That sounds much better."

"Now, can you drop part of your arm? Not a bloody chance in hell." I continued. "For fifteen years I have served the Order as an Assassin, and I have been a Master for half that time. I know things, and you must trust me, Anna."

Anna nodded, and we went back to the grip. I showed her carefully, on both hands.

"That is the correct grip."

Anna squeezed it tightly, then realizing her mistake.

"Anna, you aren't holding a battle axe! You're holding-"

"A needle?"

I was taken aback, but grinned proudly. "Precisely!" I said, laughing.

I walked over, and guided Anna's sword to point at me. "We have much to learn, but for now, let's make it real simple: you will try to strike me, and we'll see how you do."

I turned around, smiling as Anna cried out. She charged me, and I batted her off to the side gently.

Anna turned around, and I took my battle stance. Anna made a mistake in that instant, grabbing her sword with both hands. Her face went crimson as I flashed my eyes at her, and she corrected. She tried a low swoop towards me as she advanced, but I was ready once again. This time, my counter knocked her sword right out of her hands, and into the air. As Anna stumbled off, I grabbed her sword right out of midair. When she came back to the ring, I tossed her the sword, and she caught it without hesitation.

"Hm!" I nodded, smiling.

Anna poked her sword swiftly through the gap between us, but I responded by jumping off to the side, and tapping her with my own sword.

"You're dead!"

Anna rolled her eyes, and prepared for another strike.

I believe in a certain positive encouragement when it comes to training. Firm, fair, and friendly. While all those terms may sound contradictory, I find that if you can find the right balance between those three, teaching can make things much easier for whomever you are training. Anna felt my encouragement, and I am proud to say that she got a few lucky shots. Eventually we sat down at the edge of the ring to rest.

Anna ran her fingers over her face. "Since we're on the subject of swords, can I ask about those?" She was referring to the scars on my face.

Scars can either look ugly, or cool. I often wondered which mine were, but I liked them. I had two that met each other at one point on my face. The first went down my left eyebrow down into a curve just below my nose. The other went from just below my right eyebrow, across my nose. The two of them almost seemed to form a warped "X" on my face. Or a tilted "V". Whichever way you looked at them.

I pointed at the eyebrow scar. "This lucky bastard was the first Grand Master Templar I ever killed. Let's say he put up a lot more of a fight than I was expecting."

Then I pointed to my nose. "And this, well. This is what I get for being held at knifepoint, and head butting the guy who held the knife to my throat. He missed slitting my throat by a few inches."

Anna ran her finger over it. "They look like they belong there." She shook her head, wincing. "Did that come out wrong?"

I smirked. "I get it. It's a sign of weathering over the years as an Assassin. That's what you meant, right?"

Anna nodded. She could learn to relax once in a while and think before acting. Hell, there were a lot of things I could teach her.

"You know I don't entirely approve of this, Asgeir."

Elsa was starting to (ahem) cool off on me and began talking to me much more. But of course, she still didn't entirely trust me. It was suppertime that night at the castle, and this time we were alone that night with no guards.

"Elsa, I personally think that it's more up to me than yourself, now isn't it?" said Anna.

"Anna, I know. But couldn't we get the guards to teach you some of this stuff? They might prove to be better teachers."

I snorted. Wasn't that just a pathetic joke.

Elsa sighed, trying not to notice my snide attitude. "Look, I'll say yes to this as long as you're coming out of this with no scratches. But you have to promise me, Asgeir, that she will learn the proper skills on stopping those fools from the Southern Isles."

I bowed my head. "On my life."

What soon after that conversation sparked a catchphrase between Anna and me: "Don't tell Elsa."

Kai then entered the room. "Your Majesty." He bowed as he stood next to Elsa's seat. "I hope you've found everything to your expectations tonight?"

"Yes, Kai." She replied. "Everything was delicious."

Kai nodded to me. "Wonderful to have you again, Master Connor." He turned and made his way out of the room with as much sound as myself during a regular infiltration.

It was as I saw Kai that it hit me. He was one of the only seven to see me born, and still working for the royal family. He and Gerda were all that remained, thanks to Agdar's reduction of the castle's staff back when he hid Elsa's magic. He was the closest the girls had to a foster father, and they trusted him. Why couldn't I trust him, too?

As Anna and I headed up to the living room to go over plans for her training, I mentioned this to her.

"Kai's been in service to this family since my grandfather Harald was king. His own father held the position until he passed, and Kai took over for him. I trust him more than anyone other than Elsa or Kristoff. If you're considering this, know that Kai will be the one to keep this secret to his grave."

I couldn't really find a response to that statement. I've kept this secret my whole life. Could I keep this streak up and learn to trust more?

"By the way," Said Anna. "It's time for a rematch!" She pointed down at the table between us, the already-set chessboard down. I couldn't help but smile as I noticed the kings: both head crosses snapped clean off.

Anna had done her homework into chess over the past few days, because this time she lasted much longer.

"This game is much like swordplay in a different perspective." I said. "Each piece reflects the chances you have in a duel, and it really sharpens your concentration." I explained.

"So I guess it's good that we've already started playing now?" She asked.

I nodded. "Precisely."

I wanted to finally talk to Kai about my secret as soon as I could, but something held me back. But what I didn't know was it was that had my grip on me. It turned out it was the last thing any one of us needed that didn't come from the Southern Isles: One of my own brethren.

He climbed up into the crisp autumn air from his cabin as the ship slid into port. With the men hustling and shouting, he jumped off the deck onto the wooden port. Walking over to the harbormaster's quarters, he rang the bell loudly.

The harbormaster did not like to be awoken so late, until he saw what my brother was paying.

"What do you need, sir?"

"Directions to the village."

"Must be important business to be attended at this time of night."

The hooded man before him grinned. "Let's just say, what has been sowed must now be reaped."