Chapter 12: Exceptions, Not the Rule
-Modern Team's old HQ, Present Day-
"Thanks for helping us move our stuff in, guys." Joshua said as he and the gang moved the stuff from Josh's apartment into the cabin where their original HQ was.
"No problem. This'll at least make it easier for you to get to our workspace." Mael nodded as he set a box down.
"I should think so, given the proximity." Ororo chuckled.
"Well that, and I'm sure you guys won't get many noise complaints out here compared to your old–Ow!" Calvin added right before Sarah swatted him in the back of the head.
"Don't tease them about that! It was already a hassle putting up with those as it was!" She scolded.
"Thank you." Joshua told the ice queen with a nod.
"Sheesh, let's just get this over with, yeah?" The youngest member of the team sighed as they continued getting things settled.
(Later)
-Assassin's HQ, Present Day-
The group was now headed to their underground hideout right under the White House, and soon took notice of the fact that there were voices coming from inside that weren't their own.
"The hell…?" Calvin whispered, glancing at the others.
"Who could've found this place?" Mael whispered in confusion.
"Be alert." Joshua told them as he deployed his Hidden Blade and crept around the equipment as four figures could be seen talking–one female and three male–right before he vaulted over Mael's work desk and tackled one of the figures to the ground–Blade at an inch distance from his face.
"Okay, spill it! Who are you guys?!" The newly minted demanded.
It was then that the others followed and the situation became a little more clear.
"Well, I realize that dropping in unannounced is a 'declasse' move, but I didn't realize it was a knifeable offense." The figure below him said, causing Joshua to get a better look at him.
"Uncle William?" Calvin questioned as he caught up with the group.
"Hello, Calvin. Sorry for popping in unannounced." The now identified William Miles said as Joshua got off of him, retracting his hidden blade as he did.
"Yeah, well…" The bespectacled young man said as he walked up to his uncle, patting his shoulder–before sucker punching him in the face. "Been waiting years to do that." He said as the man staggered back.
"Not even gonna ask about that family drama." Joshua whispered to Ororo as she walked up next to him, the woman nodding in agreement.
"I… admittedly deserve that." The man sighed as he staggered back up while the others pushed past the awkwardness and exchanged hugs of greeting.
"It's good to see you again, Shaun." Mael smiled at his old college buddy, who he dwarfed in size.
"Nice to see you too, Mael." Shaun chuckled as he shared a bro hug with his taller colleague.
"Rebecca!" Sarah and Ororo cheered as they hugged the techy tightly.
"Oh I missed you two! How have things been going?" Rebecca questioned.
"Good, so far." Sarah nodded.
"So you're the man covering Shin Malphur?" Basim questioned as he stood across from Joshua.
"I am. Why?" The Sage of Quetzalcoatl questioned in reply.
"You certainly don't look like much." The man shrugged.
"Not my problem." Joshua shrugged nonchalantly in reply… Before the two men laughed as they exchanged a Predator style handshake. "Nice to meet another Sage in the Brotherhood." He chuckled as the laughter died down.
The Sage of Loki could only shake his head with a chuckle at that, wagging his finger a bit before the two groups got settled.
"So what brings you guys here?" Ororo questioned.
"It involves something that our drones managed to snap of an Abstergo entertainment facility in the Florida Keys." Rebecca explained as she pulled up a video–and it showed what looked like a village in silicon valley, but each home had a personal Animus.
"What the…?" Calvin questioned as he took his glasses off to clean them to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
Though the biggest shock came from one house in particular.
"Is that Lucy?!" Sarah came close to shouting with wide eyes.
"Can't be." Ororo said, shaking her head.
"Yeah, partly because she's been dead for years." Mael stated. "And partly because she was a woman." He continued. "This doesn't make any sense, why does that man look so much like Lucy? And who's that with him?!" He questioned.
"Yeah! She looks like what Desmond would be if he was a woman!" Joshua added in agreement, wondering just what the hell was going on. He knew what Desmond looked like since Calvin had shown him pictures of the guy.
"That." William said as he paused the video and turned to the group. "Is Abstergo's latest experiment. Project: Orpheus, as they call it." He explained. "They weren't satisfied with taking Desmond's body and using it in the Sample 17 program, but now seemingly cloned him as well, along with Lucy." He continued.
"Oh, those little cockbites….!" Calvin growled, deploying his hidden blades angrily.
"Is there a reason why Desmond's clone was turned into a woman and Lucy's clone is a man?" Ororo questioned. "In fact, why clone them as different genders in the first place?" She questioned.
"It's likely that Desmond's DNA was so damaged by whatever the watchtower did to him that they couldn't create a viable male clone." Rebecca explained. "Same with Lucy."
"Meaning they swapped chromosomes." Ororo nodded.
"And since Desmond and Lucy clearly had a thing going, they probably wanted to keep their clone happy by making a clone of her as well." Sarah suggested.
"Yeah, that would do it, but wouldn't Lucy's clone realize something's up?" Calvin asked as he retracted his hidden blades after calming his nerves.
"It wouldn't surprise me if Abstergo tampered with their memories and make them think that they were married and worked for Abstergo from the get-go." Joshua commented. "But what are we gonna do now that we know about these two?" He questioned, looking at William.
"Well we're going to bring them into our fold, but that won't be for a while." The Modern Brotherhood Mentor replied. "We need to build up a concrete plan to follow so we can get them out of there with as little fuss as possible." He added.
"Plans are just lists of things that can go wrong." Joshua told him. "Try to be flexible when making whatever plan you come up with." He added.
"And just where did you learn that?" The man questioned.
"Where else?" Joshua said as he walked over the Animus 3.0. "The Animus." He added.
(Later)
After the others left, the gang got back to work again, with Joshua hopping into the Animus as quickly as possible.
Animus Active
Searching for Relevant Information…
Data found.
Setting memory checkpoints…
Synchronization in progress…
-Washington DC, November, 1859-
Shin Malphur sighed as he took a glass mug of beer that was offered to him by the bartender of Enoch's Pub, a place he frequently went to with the guys–especially Clover–as it probably had some of the better food and beer in the capital city.
"Oh man, this is the stuff I need right now…" He sighed as he took a sip of beer.
"Well, you certainly have good taste in pubs." Cereza remarked as she accepted her own mug of beer. "I used to stop by the pub all the time back home." She added.
"Really? I always pegged you as the more refined type." The gunslinger said, resting on his arm against the bar.
"A lot of people make that remark quite a bit." The woman chuckled as she looked at him. "I just know how to let go and relax every now and then." She added in a matter-a-fact tone.
As she said this she copied Shin's posture but had one leg crossed over the other, making her look even sexier without even meaning to.
The woman was also dressed in an outfit that was sent to her from the British Brotherhood, a blue and purple dress that hugged her upper body enough where her chest was held in place and her hips were accentuated by the dress making them seem wider and giving her body a tulip shape.
This, of course, was more than enough to make the young man's mouth dry and force him to turn away and take another drink of beer.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Cereza quipped humorously.
"Ha ha ha." Shin deadpanned, but still gave discreet glances at her form.
"It's alright if you look at me, you know." She told him. "I promise I won't bite." She continued as she leaned into his ear. "Hard." She whispered, causing the gunslinger to shoot up with a shiver at that.
"Don't do that!" He hissed, having nearly knocked over his beer as two bowls of Irish Stew (that being a stew made with Irish gold potatoes, lamb, onions and bacon) were brought out to the two.
The British assassin couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction as she moved closer to him, lips brushing against his ear.
"Why? It's fun teasing you. Besides…" She purred as nibbled on his ear and licked it. "You can consider it payback for what you did during initiation." She purred.
"Wha–?! How did you–?!" The young Assassin yelped, thinking he was still in the clear after that.
"I eavesdropped on your friends and heard them talking about it." The British Assassin replied simply.
"Damn it, guys…" Shin grumbled, but instead of getting a smack across the face like he expected, the woman was still nuzzling close to him, her lips brushing butterfly kisses on his neck.
"Shin." Cereza told him, pulling back–her lipstick painted on his neck, as if she were marking her territory on it. "You do realize that if you wanted me, you could have just said so, don't you?" She told him as he nervously ate his stew while she occasionally took hers.
"W-Well… Um…" The young man tried to say, but like every other situation involving a man being close to the woman they liked, it was difficult to say anything coherent.
"Take your time." The ravenette told him, stroking his cheek. "There's no rush, love. I'm fine with any pace you're fine with." She added.
The boy nodded as they went back to their food and beers, but as they finished, Shin took Cereza outside and they walked home together.
"... The truth is, Cereza." Shin said as the woman looked at him while he hailed them a carriage. "I–I've liked you since we first met." He continued as a carriage came towards them. "In fact…" He added as a bold thought entered his mind, and prompted him to pick the woman up bridal style and carry her as they entered the carriage. "I think I fell in love the moment I saw you." He added.
"Oh my!" The British woman gasped, both at the sudden bridal carry and his declaration. "I really made an impact on you, didn't I?" She chuckled as the carriage started moving.
"You really did." Shin confirmed before he kissed her square on the lips, to which Cereza responded by kissing back. Somehow, it was the most right thing they had done, and while neither knew why they felt so good like this, they certainly weren't complaining.
Main Memory: Can You Feel the Love?
Synchronized.
Searching for next Sequence…
Sequence Found.
First Memory: Jackalope on a Date
Synchronization in progress…
-Davenport, November, 1859-
"You guys finished up there?" Shin called to Lumier and Ban who were on the roof fixing the Davenport Manor's weather vein and lightning rod.
"Yeah! Just gotta make sure the lightning rod is nice and secure!" Ban called back in reply as he and Lumier worked on the storm defense piece.
As this was going on, Shin looked out the window and saw that there was a familiar avian shape flying straight for the Manor window.
Realizing it was Liberty, he went inside and opened the window, granting her entry. By now, she was close to being a year old and her plumage was beginning to get white spots coming through the predominantly brown color elsewhere.
"Hey, girl." The young Assassin smiled as he gave her some head scratches, which were very appreciated.
The bird of prey then tossed something she had in her talons from her perch–which used to house a stuffed eagle but had since been sold–and onto the desk Jaren was currently working at.
The object in question being a decently sized and perfectly cookable sea bass, which was satisfyingly plopped right on the desk in front of Jaren by a happily peeping Liberty–much to the Marshall's chagrin.
"Really?" He grunted, not pleased by the sudden fish.
"I got it." Shin chuckled as he took the fish from his mentor's desk. "Well, at least I know this can be cooked. I'm certainly eating well tonight." He remarked.
"At the very least there's… That." The man nodded, right as the resident wolf-dog, Fenrir, came into the room.
The canine currently had two large jackrabbits and a set of four squirrels in his mouth, as well as six quail tasseled to the hunting harness on his back.
"Sorry we're late." Raven said as she came in, several ducks and a snow goose in hand while Mansa came in toting a Tom Turkey and a load of garden herbs and vegetables. "Fen here had chased down some more game, but ran off with the stuff we already killed." She explained.
"I was wondering what was up." Shin mused as he helped Raven with the game she had caught for dinner.
"Yeah, it was something." The Native American girl chuckled as she started tending to the turkey. "We should be pretty well fed for the next couple weeks as long as we keep the stuff we aren't cooking in the cellar. It should keep things cold enough." She added as Ban and Lumier came back inside.
"Alright. Everything's set, guess that means we're done for the day, yeah?" Ban asked as he sat down in an easy chair.
"Pretty much, though you guys may wanna get packed." Shin nodded as he helped Raven prep the meat.
"Why? What's up?" The expert thief of the group asked as he helped out with some of the ducks.
"Because we're gonna head to what's left of Pallimon, mark the place for reconstruction and then move onto our first Outlaw Hunt." The gunslinger told him in reply.
"Oh yeah, you mentioned starting a bureau in your old stomping grounds." Raven nodded. "You got any unfinished business there?" She asked.
"I was hoping to visit my parents Graves and try to find our horses. We could stay at my old house while we rebuild." Shin nodded. "But besides that, not much else." He added.
"It'll suffice." Lumier shrugged. "When do we leave?" He asked.
"Just as soon as we pack up, I'd say." Jaren replied, closing the ledger.
"Well then, Assassins, let's load up and roll out!" Shin told his friends, getting a chorus of hoorahs from the gang of teenage Assassins.
(Later)
-Grand Teton Mountain zone, Wyoming-
Fast forward a good few days and the group had now traveled from Massachusetts to Wyoming by train and were now making their way to Pallimon from Cody by passing the the Grand Teton Mountain ranges on horseback.
"Been a long while since I was in Wyoming." Shin mused as they traveled. "Ever since what happened, I mean." He amended.
"I bet." Ban chuckled. "Anyway, how far away from Pallimon's ruins are we?" He asked.
"If we take the same trail that me and my dad used to take, I'd say a couple days' rides at most." The gunslinger replied, looking for familiar landmarks.
Raven, meanwhile, was tossing blueberries to Liberty for her to snack on as she rode to the back of Shin's saddle, before she noticed something.
The ground, moss and rocks were wet. Not due to the cool weather of the mountains or morning dew or condensation–but from constant and steady rain. And the smell of damp earth lingered to her trained senses.
'This doesn't look good.' The girl thought to herself as they continued riding.
"There!" Shin said, pointing at a rock a few yards away. "That's Snapping Turtle rock, a landmark I named when I was eight." He continued. "The trail should be east of it." He added, checking his compass.
True to Shin's words, the rock looked vaguely like a Snapping Turtle, even having moss and lycan-like growths on it to sell the bit.
"Lead on, then." Jaren prompted, allowing Shin to lead the group toward Pallimon.
As they went, however, something was following them from the trees. Whatever it was watched the traveling humans intently, following them quietly.
(Later)
After about five hours of riding, the group soon came to a mountain stretch valley that had a spring running alongside it from a small waterfall coming from the Tetons themselves.
It was this spring that they decided to rest at, allowing their horses, wolf-dog and eagle to get a drink at.
"Man, this is one hell of a trip we're taking." Clover sighed as he downed some water.
"This spring sure is moving fast." Mayes, an initiate from the Tennessee territory, noted as he let the clean spring water rush into his canteen. "Must've been a long rain recently." He added.
"Which has me worried about a potential flash flood." Rave chimed.
"She's right. We need to move a bit faster if we wanna get to Pallimon's ruins in time." Jaren nodded.
The team nodded as they started to get everything packed up again, right as Liberty let out a chirp at something that was moving towards them.
Spinning around to see what was coming, Shin soon found himself being eye to eye with what looked like a large jackrabbit with tawny brown fur, and what looked to be a pair of antlers.
"A Jackalope?" He gasped, causing everyone to look at him and see the cryptid creature of Wyoming. Hearing stories about it is one thing, but seeing it in person?
Nothing gets you ready for a giant jackrabbit with antlers.
"Whoa, that's weird." Ban said as he got up, only for the Jackalope to follow him with its gaze.
"Yeah, I'm with him. This isn't what I expected to see." Calvin commented through the Animus comms.
"They seem harmless, though." Ororo added her two cents.
The antlered rabbit's ears then started flicking around as it scanned the gathering of humans in front of it, before bounding atop a rock at the foot of the river, fuming one foot rapidly and then bouncing to another direction, thumping its foot a second time.
"... Call me mad, but I think the laddie's tellin' us to follow it." Clover stated.
"What for, though?" Mansa wondered.
"Let's find out. Jackalopes don't let people see 'em, so something serious must be happening." Shin stated as he got on Nashville and rode in the cryptid's direction.
As they did, the Jackalope thankfully went down a similar route to the one Shin had been plotting–though this one was sticking closer to the river.
Keeping up with the Lepus antilocapra was certainly a chore, even on horseback, as the favorite prey of the Wampus Cat was quite literally the fastest thing alive.
"What the hell, is it supposed to be this fast?!" Ban shouted over the wind as the group rode after the supposed mythical creature.
"Yeah! It's part of why hunters never had any proof to back their claims of seeing one!" Shin shouted back in reply.
"That, and it's capable of mimicking everything it hears perfectly!" Raven added.
The Jackalope buck then came to a stop at what looked like a burrow under a large and old catawba tree, thumping its foot again and imitating a human whistling.
A moment later, another Jackelope came out followed by what could only be seven babies.
"Aw, now that's just adorable." Lumier smiled as he looked at the babies.
"I see now, it must need our help." Mansa nodded as the Jackalope doe–which had no antlers on it but was a similar size to the buck–nuzzled its mate and then went into the burrow again, before rolling out something round and shiny.
"Hey! That's one of the orbs from my vision!" Shin exclaimed.
"Is that… an Apple of Eden?!" Raven gasped. Of all the things to expect from a Jacalope den, this wasn't one of them!
"Well, ain't that a stroke of luck." Jaren whistled as he got off his mount and picked it up. "But why do they wanna give it to us, if that's what the buck brought us here for?" He wondered.
"I'm not sure, honestly." Ban shrugged, right before Fenrir started growling and Liberty chirping as the Jackalopes became ancy–and a loud feline scream could be heard. "But I'm willing to bet that has something to do with it!" He yelled, grabbing his Dragoon pistols.
Not a moment later, a puma burst out from some bushes. It had the usual tan colored coat of fur and general body structure, but the main difference was the fact that it was 1. Three times the size of a normal Puma, and 2. Had six legs.
Shin and Raven instantly knew that this was a Wampus Cat, and it was likely hungry.
"Shit! That's a Wampus Cat!" The gunslinger cursed, drawing his rifle.
"And it looks hungry." Raven nodded, bow drawn.
"Everyone, protect the Jackalopes!" Jaren ordered the rest of the group, who drew their weapons and got ready to fight off the feline cryptid if it got close.
Drawing his piece, the Marshall Assassin fanned the hammer his pistol, the Last Word and shot the cat six times in one go.
"Wait, I've been meaning to ask, Mr. Ward." Clover started. "But how come you don't carry around blasting caps and powder for your revolver?" He asked.
"It's because the Last Word is one of four guns that was made using schematics gleaned from the future through use of the Apple!" The man explained. "It's a gun that uses things called bullets than cartridges." He added as he fired again, causing the cat to jump back right towards Raven, who swung her Assassin Tomahawk at it.
This information did make sense to the modern crew, as it did explain why the Last Word looked like a modern hand cannon while bullet revolvers hadn't been invented yet.
Shin, meanwhile, took a shot at the cryptid feline, but it was much more nimble than it looked and dodged the shot before running at him with the intent to kill. Cursing under his breath, Shin rolled aside and put his rifle away before drawing his revolvers.
"Okay, kitty, let's go!" He growled, firing a single shot as a probing tactic to see if he'd be able to hit it. Sure enough, it dodged and tried to swipe at him, only for Ban to shoot it in one of its forelegs, causing it to stagger and yowl in pain.
The Animus flickered again as the memory progressed, with the Wampus yowling at the Assassins again before it limped itself away, probably to go lick its wounds.
The Assassins watched it limp away, all of them showing some degree of exhaustion.
"Haven't had a fight like that since the Wendigo I killed." Shin sighed as he put his revolvers away.
The Jackalopes were quick to happily rush up to their human defenders, the buck nuzzling Raven– who couldn't stop herself from smiling as she rubbed his head– and the doe nuzzling Jaren, much to the man's amusement as he scratched her head.
The babies split up and nuzzled the other initiates, with Shin in particular being assailed by two particularly happy ones. The young man laughed as they nuzzled and even nibbled on his face, even going so far as to nibble on his nose.
"Aw, now this is just downright adorable." Joshua said with a smile as he watched Shin get assailed with cuteness.
The group then gathered the family of rabbits up and brought them to a nearby abandoned badger burrow at a higher level, hoping to keep them safe from the flood that could occur at any moment.
"Thank you for keeping this safe for us. We won't forget this." Shin told the Jackalopes, patting them on the heads.
The doe nuzzled his face affectionately before the whole family went into their new burrow.
"That was probably one of the greatest things to ever happen to me in my life." Ban admitted with a smile as the group mounted up again and continued to Pallimon.
"Shin, you mentioned that you saw the Apple in your vision." Jaren noted as they rode along. "What else did you see?" He questioned. The gunslinger took a moment to recount the vision before answering.
"There were two figures, one light and the other dark, Camazotz, a few other Apples and a high tech feather." He replied.
"Think this is one of those Apples?" The Marshal asked, holding up the artifact in question.
"Could be. Hard to tell, but let's hold onto it just in case." The gunslinger stated, getting a nod in return.
"That's a given, but that feather–Shin, that's another piece of Eden." His mentor explained.
"Really?" The gunslinger questioned.
"It's called the Last Feather of Quetzalcoatl." Raven piped up. "My grandfather wrote about it in his journal, his mentor Achilles used to be obsessed with finding it." She continued. "Legend tells that in the hands of a Sage, it can lock artifacts like the apples from being used by those the holder doesn't wish to use it." She added.
"Then to end the war between the Assassins and Templars, a Sage would have to make it so the relics can't be used by anyone, period. Including the Sages themselves." Shin noted with a frown.
"That's pretty much what we're hoping for." Jaren sighed.
"... Well, at least I have a rough draft of how to finally bring this war to a close. Hopefully." Joshua mused.
"Though the figures of light and dark, those images stump me." Jaren hummed.
"Same with the city of gold. Maybe a Precursor site?" Shin offered.
"Seems likely, the question is: where is it?" The Marshal nodded as they continued on.
Memory: Jackalope on a Date
Synced.
Next memory: Floodgates
Synchronization in progress…
-Bison Horn Pass, Grand Teton, Wyoming, 1859-
As the Assassins reached the apex of their journey to Pallamon, Mansa was quick to take notice of an eerie gathering of dark clouds looming overhead between them and the narrow ravine that was aptly named by Shin as Bison Horn Pass.
"Hmmm…" The African teen grumbled. "Think we should pick up the pace before it starts raining?" The initiate called to the others, pointing upwards.
"Yeah, that storm does not look friendly." Reyes noted.
"Since when are storms friendly?" Ban questioned…
BOOM!
Right as thunder boomed and a lightning bolt nearly struck them.
"Well definitely not now! Let's move!" Jaren yelled as they ran.
As they tried to get out of the canyon as fast as possible, it started raining. It started off light, but it wasn't long before it was falling hard. A short while later, Clover looked back and widened his eyes at what he saw.
"FLASH FLOOD BEHIND US!" He yelled over the rain. True to form, there was a flood rushing up behind them, threatening to wash them away.
"Come on guys! Move move! Move!" Jaren yelled as they all started riding like their lives depended on it.
Unfortunately, their horses just couldn't outrun floodwater.
One by one, they were all swept away. Lumier was the first to be washed away, followed by Ban, Clover, Mansa, Raven, Reyes, Adam Rose, Shayton Tavis and an initiate from Mexico, Manolo Sanchez.
They all yelled as they and their horses were swept up, while Fenrir and Liberty were quick to leap onto a nearby up rooted tree that locked itself ashore, and the horses made their way to a softer current, avoiding being drowned.
But as for Shin and Jaren, while their animal companions were able to play it smart and get by, the two were forced together as they were flushed through the ravine–the Marshall holding on tightly to his pupil, and surrogate son.
Somewhere along the way, however, the two hit some debris in the flood and they were forced apart. While Jaren was washed ashore, Shin had the misfortune of being washed further along. As he went, he lost consciousness and was swept away to parts unknown.
"SHIN!" Jaren yelled after the boy before going into a coughing fit, water still in his lungs.
Memory: Floodgates
Synced.
Next memory: Exceptions, Not the Rule
Synchronization in progress…
-Buffalo Fork River, just south of Pallimon, 1859-
The current brought on by the flood slowed as the stream emptied into the Buffalo Fork River, washing the boy up on one of its closer banks.
Shin was definitely worse for wear, especially since the only pieces of weaponry on him that were undamaged from the debris were his katana and tanto, tomahawk and his hidden blades. The rest were damaged beyond repair. His clothes were also torn up, his hat missing and he was also bruised on top of being unconscious.
As he lay there on the stone covered banks of the river, the water sloshed in and out of the channel due to the ebbing flood. This continued for several hours before Shin's hat eventually washed up beside him and his eyes slowly snapped open.
The teen then started to coughing out water and trying to regain his breath before he slowly rolled onto his back, seeing his hat on his left side and a bottle of rum on his right.
"Boy,doesn't that look familiar." Calvin remarked with a chuckle, seeing a small parallel between Shin and Edward Kenway.
The boy then took the bottle and tried to drink from it, only to realize that it was empty, he then looked inside the bottle and couldn't help but laugh as he fell on his back, exhausted.
"Ugh… Damn it…" He groaned, the ordeal causing his consciousness to slowly fade again. The last thing he saw was four blurry people walking his way before his vision went black.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, several miles from where Shin had washed up, Jaren limped his way down to the riverbank, supporting himself with an oak branch he'd fashioned into a walking stick.
"Ugh… I hope Shin's okay…" He groaned as he looked at the rest of the group, who were either getting their bearings back or just waking up.
"Urgh, what hit me?" Ban groaned as he sat up.
"A thousand gallons of rushing water, that's what." Jaren told him as he sat down, Clover tending to the horses, who were thankfully uninjured.
Fenrir and Liberty joined the group, both looking worried and looking around. This caught Mansa's attention.
"Wait… Where is Shin?" He asked,doing a head count and not seeing the gunslinger anywhere.
"He got swept further down. I just hope he hasn't drowned." Jaren replied with a sigh, wincing as his leg throbbed.
"Ugh… Bayonetta is gonna kill us if we tell her we lost him…" Raven groaned.
"What makes you say that?" Ban questioned, causing the other boys to look at the only girl in the group.
"I found out that she got together with Shin, but I'm not entirely sure." The only girl in the group replied, wringing out her hair to get the water out. "It's still enough to make me worry, though." She added.
"Ah shit, that's true…" Clover groaned in agreement.
(Elsewhere)
-Two days later-
Shin groaned as he slowly sat up, feeling the spring of a bed below him, causing the boy to snap awake and whip around–only for his side and head to roar in protest.
"Ow! Shit…!" He cursed, holding his aching head and side. "Where am I…? How'd I get here?" He wondered as he looked around.
It looked like he was in a middle class house's bedroom with green wallpaper, some shelves with a few books, a desk and the bed he was on. There were also a few rugs on the floor.
Sighing, the boy slowly got up and noticed that his clothes were folded to the side–allowing him to get dressed in them, but he soon noticed that his weapons were missing.
"Fuck me, now what..?" The boy cursed as he looked around, and saw that there was a Bowie knife on a stand on the vanity of a fireplace in the room. "OK, that can work if all else fails…" He mused.
Warning!
Non Lethal Takedowns Mandatory
Remain undetected.
Desynchronization Possible if enemies killed or if detected
Incentives: Aerial Takedowns [3], Cover Takedowns [4], Speed Takedowns [2], Kidnap Function used.
Before he could grab the knife, he heard a commotion downstairs accompanied by a scream, causing him to snap his head in the direction of the door.
"Shut up, woman!" A thuggish sounding voice barked, causing the teen's eyes to narrow.
Walking out the bedroom, Shin was forced to resort to limping when his wounds acted up. As he walked down the hallway, he heard a few things break along with the sounds of a struggle.
Upon reaching the living room, he saw three thugs standing over two people he guessed were the ones taking care of him.
Shin got onto the banister, and then leapt from it to the guys below, taking them down in one move, remaining undetected.
"Oh shit, that was a bad idea." The teen groaned as he got up.
"You okay there, son?" The man of the house asked, groaning as he got up. He was an elderly man in his fifties with black graying hair, a beard, and caucasian skin with blue eyes. He was dressed in a white shirt, a beige colored vest and matching pants.
"Yeah, fine." Shin groaned as he got up.
"Well, thanks for dealing with those hooligans." The woman present sighed as she was helped to her feet by her apparent husband. She was close to the same age as her husband with brown graying hair, the same skin tone her husband had and had green eyes. She had a green casual dress on and had her hair done in a ponytail.
"Yeah…" The boy sighed. "Name's Shin Malphur, Deputy US Marshall." He told them. "And looks like these guys…" He continued, moving one of the jackets of the thugs–and finding that they were Templars. "Are some of the guys I work against." He added.
"Well, I'm not sure you should go out looking for trouble in your state." The man commented. "I'm Richmond Wellfield, by the way. This is my wife, Angie." He added, gesturing to his wife.
"Sorry for the trouble, but I gotta get moving." The gunslinger sighed as he limped to a table where his weapons were, getting them on. "Thanks for the help." He told them as he staggered towards the door
"Whoa, easy there, Shin." Richmond said, grabbing his shoulder. "Like I said, you shouldn't be looking for trouble as you are right now." He told him.
"It's not the first time I've fought with these kinds of wounds." Shin told him in response. "Trust me, I'll be fine." He added as he opened the door, and stopped just short of the threshold as he saw something standing there on a rocking chair.
It was Liberty, and she was preening herself on the Wellfield's porch.
Upon hearing the door open and seeing her human (read: father) walk out, she let out a happy chirp and flew to his shoulder before nuzzling his face.
"Hey, I'm glad to see you too, Liberty." The boy sighed as he pet his eagle. "Listen, think you can take a message to the others for me, girl?" He asked.
The bird of prey nodded in response, and so Shin went to the post office to get a message written and delivered. Once done, he firmly attached the letter to his bird's leg and sent her on her way.
"Hope the others can get here soon." He sighed. "If there's one Templar here, more is likely here as well." He added. Deciding to head back to the Wellfields since he had nowhere else to stay, he saw that they had a new outfit for him.
"We were hoping you'd come back." Richmond said, Angie holding the outfit.
"These belonged to our late son. We figured these would be better than the tattered clothes you have right now." Angie added.
Shin looked down at his father's old threads–all of them damaged beyond any meaningful repairs save for his hat. Sighing, he nodded before taking the clothes.
"Thank you." The young Assassin nodded as he went to change.
(A short while later)
Shin adjusted part of his new threads as he walked into the living room again.
He was now wearing a tan shirt with an empty ammo belt on it with a white poncho on top, a pair of black pants, and brown leather boots. On his sides were his blades and tomahawk while his hidden blades were in their places. He also had a belt with a buckle in the shape of the Brotherhood's Eagle skull print with a star in the middle.
This made Shin wonder if the Wellfields' son was an Assassin in his life.
Putting his hat back on, he then turned to face his caretakers. "I can't thank you two enough." He told them. "If you guys ever need anything, anything at all, just send for me with the Marshall's office in DC or in Davenport. I should be there at least until the new base at Pallimon is finished." He added.
"Pallimon? Wasn't that place razed?" Angie wondered aloud in confusion.
"It won't be after I'm done with it." Shin told her in reply before he headed for the door. "Take care." He added before leaving.
However, as he started making his way towards Pallimon, a group of figures were watching him from a distance.
"Looks like someone already took care of those bandits that stole our gear." One of them mused.
"Think that kid heading for Pallimon did that?" A female voice wondered.
"Unclear, though we should try following him." The male voice responded.
(Later)
As Shin walked along the trail to Pallimon, night fell–and as he walked, he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched and followed. However, when he turned around, he saw… nothing.
Frowning, he turned and continued on his way, but the feeling persisted. After a few minutes, he decided to use his Eagle Vision as he snapped around and caught a glimpse of something–a red blur behind a tree. He couldn't make out what, though.
Drawing his katana from its sheath, he then took some oil and doused the blade in it–before flicking it on a rock–causing sparks to fly and ignite the oil, illuminating everything around the night air.
Looking at where he could make out the red blur's edges, Shin stalked toward it slowly, hoping to scare it out of its hiding place… Whatever the red was. It was probably a Templar tracker.
However, when the creature came out from behind the tree, it became abundantly clear that it wasn't a Templar tracker.
Shin couldn't even tell if he was looking at a spectral figure, or a black haired creature with a thick coat of fur. It was at least ten feet tall, had long limbs with three boney fingers and hauntingly blue glowing eyes.
It looked almost like a ghostly therizinosaurus.
"What… the… fuck…?" Joshua uttered, feeling a tad afraid right now.
"What is that thing…?" Ororo wondered with a gulp.
The animal let out a sound akin to bones rattling mixed with a train's whistle as it charged at the boy, its therizinosaurus-like body rushing at the boy–claws outstretched to skewer him.
However…
BANG BANG!
Two gunshots echoed through the air, and two shots hitting the ground forced the entity back. Looking in the direction the gunfire came from, Shin was reasonably surprised to see some Templars saving his skin. He couldn't make out their features, but the red crosses were visible in the night.
The creature let out the same noise again before it turned tail and ran off into the night, its footsteps slowly getting farther and farther away.
Shin quickly turned to face the Templars, ablaze sword raised threateningly in order to get them to realize that he wasn't to be messed with.
"Back off!" The gunslinger snapped.
"Whoa, easy there." One of the Templars, a man, told him, his hands held up placatingly. "Sorry for the scare there, lad. But I figured that with you coming face to face with the Hidebehind, you wouldn't mind the assistance." He told him.
"Hidebehind? Shit, well, if the names people give these things aren't creative, it's at least accurate." Shin scoffed, dousing his fire, but still kept his sword drawn.
"Wait, that's what the Hidebehind looks like?!" Calvin exclaimed in surprise.
"Sarah, get the Hidebehind's image logged as the confirmed image. Mention how it was confirmed as well." Joshua told the computer expert.
"Way ahead of you." The platinum blonde replied as she did just that.
"You can sheath that sword, boy. We won't hurt you." The second Templar, a woman, told him. Though he couldn't tell what either of them looked like.
"You'll have to forgive me if I find that hard to believe." Shin told her, lowering his blade but not sheathing it.
"Well, travel with us and we can talk. Maybe we can show you a few things." The man offered.
"Don't push it." The boy hissed as he sheathed his blade and followed the two, into the open, and using the Assassin pendant on his Hidden Blade sleeve to send moonlight flashes into the sky.
And in the distance, Liberty–who had returned from giving Jaren Shin's letter–was perched on a tree and saw the signal–flying off to update the others.
(Later)
Soon Shin was brought to what looked like a frontier settlement near a nearby mine, which was currently not as bustling as it would be otherwise, but the boy could make out at least twenty Templar affiliated soldiers–if not more–at various spots and more still asleep in cabins and tents.
"You know, you never did say who you were." The gunslinger said as the two led him inside a cabin, which was well lit–allowing him to see what they looked like.
The man was somewhere in his mid to late thirties with short black hair, caucasian skin and had a scar over his right eye. He was wearing what looked like a Marshal outfit like Jaren, but with a few custom additions to it. On his belt was a saber and a revolver. On the shoulders was the red cross of the Templars.
The woman, meanwhile, looked like she was British. She had brown hair that was tied in a long ponytail, brown eyes and fair skin, and she had a C-cup rack that looked like it was trying to rival Cereza's, as were the rest of her assets. Attire wise, she had on a pair of black pants, brown thigh high boots, a white shirt and a red admiral's long coat that looked like it belonged to a Red Coat in the American Revolution.
Under this jacket, right next to the Saber on her belt, was a Templar cross.
"Oh, sorry about that." The woman chuckled. "I'm Morgana Monroe." She told him.
"Name's Boris. Boris Johnston." The man replied.
"Boris the Animal Johnston?" Shin questioned, much to Boris' indignation. "Oh yeah, I've heard of your sorry ass. You made it a habit of 'moving things along' when the Templars usually try to get settlements set up in the west or get people to move when that land seems profitable." He continued. "My mentor mentioned running into you a few times when he was still starting out as a Marshall. Heard you broke his nose when he didn't leave you alone." He added.
"In my defense, he wouldn't stop pestering me over the simplest things." Boris shrugged. "Hell, he was even taunting me about not getting a girl!" He exclaimed indignantly, causing Shin to blink owlishly.
"... Moving on." The young man decided, not wanting to poke that particular bear as he looked at Morgana. "Cereza mentioned you a few times, saying how you constantly tried to one up her." He stated.
"Oh, so you're friends with that cow, are you?" The brunette sighed, causing Shin's eyebrow to twitch at the insult aimed at his crush. "You're an Assassin, right? Just how is that woman able to do all that… freerunning, as you call it, with udders she calls a bosom?" She questioned.
"It's called practice, and don't talk about her like that." Shin told her curtly, his tone telling her just how he was feeling about the insults.
"... Shin's gonna get caught in a love triangle, isn't he?" Calvin deadpanned.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he did, if the rivalry between Cereza and Morgana is there." Mael shrugged in reply.
"Morgana, don't provoke the kid." Boris told his fellow Templar flatly.
"Why did you bring me here?" The deputy Marshall questioned.
"How about we all sit down and we can tell you in a non combative environment?" The man offered, taking a seat at a table while Morgana did the same, the man reached for a glass decanter and unplugged it. "Take a seat." He continued. "You a fan of whiskey?" He questioned, pouring a glass or two.
"Yeah. I do prefer a glass every now and then." Shin replied with a shrug as he took a seat. They might be Templars, but they at least seemed decent.
Plus, they did save him from the Hidebehind, so he supposed a conversation was in order to see what the deal with these two is.
"You didn't answer my question, though." The boy said as he drank from his double glass of whiskey, which Morgana had put shaved ice into–apparently they had a supply of it like in DC.
"Because we wanna show you that not every Templar is an asshole." Boris replied, taking a swig. "Yeah, the majority of us are less than savory, but some of us decided to take after certain past Templars like George Monro. He took the approach of actually caring for the people he governed, something that sat right with us." He explained.
"Yet your cause continues to achieve peace through control." Shin retorted. "See us all be slaves without realizing it " He added.
"Not all of us." Morgana replied. "A decent number of us just want order as you Assassins want freedom. We've even tried to make peace between our groups for that reason." She continued. "Because as the saying goes–." She added before Shin interjected.
"Freedom without order, is chaos. Order without freedom is tyranny." He finished.
"Preciscely, that about sums it up." Morgana nodded with a sigh. "It doesn't help that the majority of our colleagues prefer absolute control, either." She added in exasperation.
"What this world needs is for the Assassins and Templars to work together." Boris stated. "Because what has this war actually gotten us in the big scheme of things? Absolutely nothing." He continued with a groan.
"Small victories here and there, eras of control that gets uprooted by either side in a matter of decades. It's no longer a long-term solution." Morgana nodded. "It just leads to a meaningless loss of life and blood." She added. "The only way we can truly achieve a lasting peace–and hope to end the strife caused by this 'perpetual conflict', is for Assassins and Templars to reach a compromise."
"Otherwise–." Boris began.
"The war never ends." Shin interjected.
"... What the hell? These two Templars actually know what's up." Joshua commented with a surprised blink.
"Well, the good ones are often found in people like these two." Ororo commented.
"That's why we wish to make a proposal to your Mentor Bowery." Morgana began.
"An alliance, formally recognized by the leaders of our sect of the order, to work together with the Assassins–against the current Templar administration." Boris continued.
"Against the current Grandmaster, Boss Tweed." Morgana nodded.
"Wow, you guys seriously wanna go against Tweed?" The currently gunless gunslinger asked in surprise. "You two must be seriously committed to getting actual peace between our groups if you wanna do this." He added.
"Oh, we are." Boris nodded in confirmation. "I lost my brother during the western expansion against the Apache and nearly died myself if it weren't for an Assassin who saved me–Your Mentor Bowery, in fact." He continued. "So I know what we can do together." He added. "Whaddya say, kid? Are you willing to help us out?" He asked.
Shin was silent for a moment as he mulled the request over in his head. The Templars have done a lot of damage to a lot of people, including himself, and were largely hellbent on a tyrannical form of control.
However, now he sat in front of two members from the Templar minority that actively wanted peace between the two groups, and recognized that nothing was being gained in this endless war. Sure, one of them dissed Cereza, but he was more than willing to overlook that since she seemed decent-ish.
"... Get a letter with what you want written, and I'll make sure it reaches Bowery. Myself, if I have to." Shin told them.
"Atta boy." Boris smiled. "... Say, I recognize you. Your Samson's boy, yeah?" He asked. "How is he these days?" He questioned.
"Dead, unfortunately. He was killed when the Templars sacked Pallimon a year or so ago." Shin replied with a sigh, causing the black haired man to widen his eyes.
"The fu–?! Samson was one of the toughest people I've known! How the hell'd they kill him so easily?!" He questioned in disbelief.
"There's that tale again, just how was my dad that strong?" The boy questioned.
"What, no one told you?" Mogana asked, blinking owlishly. "Boris, we gotta educate this kid." She told her ally.
"Damn right we do." Boris nodded in agreement before the two set their gazes on Shin.
'Oh boy, here we go…' He groaned in his head.
Memory: Exceptions, Not the Rule.
Synced.
Playing next Relevant memory…
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, not far from the river that ran through the mining town that Shin was staying in, the Assassins were trying to track the boy using the scraps of clothes that the Wellfields gave them–Fenrir doing most of the tracking.
"Man, this is tense…" Mansa sighed, running a hand through his hair as the gang followed the trail.
"Yeah, I just hope–Hey! There's Liberty!" Ban nodded before exclaiming as the bald eagle came flying towards them.
Jaren held out his arm for her to perch on while Clover and Raven gave her food and water, once she was refreshed, she started flapping and chirping.
"Hey, I think she's trying to tell us something." Reyes told them.
"What is it, girl?" Raven asked.
Then Liberty surprisingly started writing words in the dirt, showing that she was more intelligent than the average bird. She wrote the following…
"Master nearly killed by monster, saved by Templars!" It read.
"Wait, am I reading this right? A monster nearly got Shin only for Templars to save him?" Clover questioned as he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
"More importantly–this bird can write?!" Ban exclaimed in shock, he was easily surprised.
"Let's wonder about that later! Pick up the pace, people!" Jaren barked, prompting everyone to move faster to get to Shin.
(Meanwhile)
Back with Shin, Boris and Morgana, the latter two had just finished educating Shin with stories of just how strong his father was. Ripping a person in half, punching someone so hard they flew out of the boxing ring they were in with his father, used his fists a lot… He didn't know how to respond to this.
"I've never seen my dad do half this stuff, what could've caused his strength to disappear?" The boy asked.
"We're not sure. Just that he said that he could feel himself getting weaker after marrying Delilah, and that's it." Boris explained.
"It was honestly really strange. We thought it was age causing him to grow weaker, but it felt like more than that." Morgana picked up with a confused look on her face. "No idea what, though." She added.
"Yeah, weird." Shin hummed before letting the man opposite him pour him more whiskey. "But I have to ask, why are you two set up here of all places?" He questioned.
"We believe that there's a large deposit of raw minerals, gold, silver and platinum in this particular part of the mountains." Boris explained, pouring himself more alcohol.
"Our hope is to find, mine and hoard these resources for our hostile takeover " Morgana continued. "It's meant to be shared with the Assassins as well, of course. A sign of solidarity and commitment to our potential truce." She added.
"Not a bad move there." Shin nodded, seeing how that could make things easier. "I may take some silver for myself to make some knives out of them in case I come across any more hostile cryptids." He added.
"I don't blame you. Creatures like the Hidebehind are nasty fuckers." Boris nodded in understanding.
As the two were having this kind moment together, however, there was a familiar sound of six rapid gunshots outside.
"I know that gun…!" Shin hissed. "That's the Last Word!" He exclaimed, standing up.
"Oh hell…" The Templar Marshal groaned, realizing that Jaren was here and likely had backup and went to follow Shin with Morgana right behind them.
Sure enough, when they got to the commotion, Jaren and the rest of the gang had shown up and started fighting the Templars of the camp. This made Shin groan, but figured they had assumed he was being held prisoner. Well, time to prove them wrong.
"Guys! Guys! Stand down! Stand down!" The gunslinger yelled as he ran towards the group while Ban was about to snap a guys neck, Raven was about to split a guy's head open with her tomahawk, Clover was about to hang a guy with his trademark rope dart, Lumier was about to shoot a guy he had pinned down with his Phantom Blade crossbow at point blank range, Mansa was about to bludgeon a guy with an iron buttock spike club, and Jaren was about to pump a bunch of guys full of lead.
"Wait, what?" Jaren uttered as he lowered the Last Word and everyone canceled their would-be kills in confusion.
"Uh, what's going on?" Ban asked on behalf of the Assassins.
"What's going on is we were just having a civil conversation with your pal over here when you showed up." Boris told them as he and Morgana walked up to the group.
"Boris? What are you and Morgana doing out here?" The Assassin Marshal questioned with a raised eyebrow upon spotting the brunette.
"Just getting resources for our hostile takeover against Tweed." Morgana replied, flicking her hair a bit.
"Wait, say what now?" Raven got out as she did a double take.
"That's right, we're going to end this conflict of ours peacefully by taking our faction over by force, if need be." The woman nodded.
"Bloody hell, she serious?" Clover asked.
"Oh yeah, she's serious alright." Shin confirmed with a nod.
"Wait, how'd you even get here, anyways?" Lumier asked, looking at his fellow Initiate.
"Oh, they saved me from the Hidebehind, which was apparently lurking in these parts." The currently gunless gunslinger replied.
"... Yeah, that'll do it." Raven commented after a beat passed.
Jaren remained quiet throughout most of this as Shin reunited with his pets, before approaching his pupil and the two Templars.
"You're certain that this isn't a trick, Shin?" He questioned.
"Ask 'em yourself if you need confirmation." The deputy replied. "But they did tell me that this war just ain't going anywhere, basically saying it's just both sides pushing against one another." He added.
"It's true." Morgana nodded. "Me and Boris are just…" She then let out a heavy sigh. "So tired of it all." She added.
Jaren nodded before he turned to his pupil. "Shin…" He said in a stern voice that made everyone, including the gunslinger, become tense.
The last of the Malphur family flinched as he was expecting to get hit–only for nothing to come as he felt two arms squeeze him tightly instead.
"Never get separated from me again." The man whispered.
"Um… R-Right…" Shin nodded as he returned the hug as it got tighter. "I can't breathe!" The boy choked out, causing his mentor to release him.
"Sorry." The man apologized.
"Jaren, did you adopt him or something?" Boris couldn't help but tease.
"Well…" The man said as he looked down at the boy next to him. "I suppose so." He nodded as everyone started to relax while Shin hugged him back.
(Timeskip)
-Pallimon, Wyoming, Thanksgiving Day, 1859-
Shin sighed as he and the Assassins looked at the newly rebuilt town of Pallimon, which was now finished.
"Now all we need are people to fill it." Ban grinned, tacking an Assassin A on the door of their freshly built bureau.
"I don't think that'll be too hard." Mansa chuckled as he and Lumier set a bench down next to the door.
"Yeah. There's bound to be people flocking here before long when word spreads." Clover nodded as he set a sack down.
"Hell, I actually know a few families who used to know my grandfather when he and my grandmother still lived on the Davenport Homestead." Raven nodded, right as Liberty and Fenrir started making noise. "Someone's coming." She said.
A moment later, not only did Cereza arrive, but so did Morgana.
When they realized they were in the same place as one another, they glared at each other.
After the Monro woman had defected to join the Assassins with Boris, it had been discovered that she and the taller British woman actually had a rivalry between them.
"Don't fight, you two. We just finished building this place, and don't need nor want any collateral damage." Shin told the two ladies, dragging them away from the others to avoid a scene.
"I just can't understand why you'd prefer this tall cow over a more modest woman like me!" Morgana growled, causing a tick mark to appear on Cereza's forehead.
"Oh jeez, here we go…" Joshua groaned in exasperation.
"Cow?! Why you intolerable, puffed-up, ignorant trollop! Like you're one to talk! I'm surprised that you could even fit into door frames with that plumb plump arse you're packing!" Cereza snapped, the two getting dangerously close, causing their breasts to press against each other.
"At least I can fit into door frames! You just bonk your head whenever you walk through one!" The brunette shot back.
"... I feel attacked." Mael commented with a frown.
"Ladies, ladies, please!" Shin said as he got between the two women and tried to force them apart. "Can we try to be civil with each other for one–minute." He added… before he felt something soft, supple and bouncy in both his hands.
"Shin, I know I have good breasts, but this is hardly the time…" The ravenette told him with a flat look before she smirked. "Unless this is your way of saying you prefer me over Morgana over there." She added, grabbing his arm pulling it into the valley of her breasts.
"I beg to differ! He's been fondling my chest for just as long!" The brunette snapped, pulling Shin's other arm to her own chest.
This escalated into a tug of war scene, with Cereza and Morgana angrily trying to pull Shin in their direction while the young deputy had a look that said "just kill me so I won't have to put up with this shit."
Then the two ladies stopped pulling and glanced at the man they were fighting over and then each other, an idea entering their heads. Smirking, they nodded their heads and kissed both of Shin's cheeks, causing him to blush profusely.
"W-What the hell?!" He yelped, not expecting them to suddenly kiss his cheeks like that.
"Coms with us, big boy." Cereza purred as she and Morgana started dragging him away.
"We have so much for you." Morgana added with a purr as well as they dragged him to the newly refurbished Malphur home.
No further relevant data available
Sequence 12 complete
Desynchronization in progress…
Ejecting user…
-American Brotherhood HQ, Present Day-
Joshua yawned as he came out of the Animus… and was thankful that his new white beaked hoodie hid the tent in his pants.
"... Well… That happened." The second tallest in the group commented after a moment. "I didn't expect Cereza and Morgana to abruptly agree to share Shin like that." He added.
"Neither did I." Ororo nodded in agreement. "The Hidebehind's appearance was a bigger surprise, though." She added.
"Yeah. It was believed to have never been seen before." Calvin nodded.
"... I can't help but think that them choosing to share Shin could be them practicing what they're preaching." Joshua mused. "Templars and Assassins, joined as one." He added.
"It certainly seems that way." Sarah mused. "But the Jackalope fawns were so adorable, though!" She gushed, smiling as she remembered how they had acted after the Wampus Cat was driven off.
"That is true, yeah." Ororo nodded as they started getting packed. She then went over to Joshua and pulled him by the drawstrings of his hoodie. "Coms on, Joshua. Let's go home." She told him.
"Uh, OK…?" The man said as he was dragged away from the HQ, and towards their cabin.
ThermalsniperN7: Wow… A lot has happened. It ranges from Shin saving a Jackalope family from a Wampus Cat (and getting an Apple of Eden as a reward) to finding Templars planning a revolt against Boss Tweed, rebuilding Pallimon… And also getting one of said Templars as a second lover.
Dragon Emperor0: That last bit is gonna really make it hard for Joshua to figure out which one of Shin's kids he's related to…
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah… I guess it's dependant on who he knocks up first? I'm not even sure. Still, it's a shame about his guns. That's gonna sting since those are sentimental things he lost.
Dragon Emperor0: At least he still has his dad's blades and hat. Also, guys, yes–Morgana is related to George Monro from AC: Rogue. Additionally, Shin's new outfit will have city variations like Connor's in AC3.
ThermalsniperN7: One of the common things from AC2 going forward has been the variety of outfits available. We hope you like what we have picked out.
Dragon Emperor0: Yeah, anyway, guys–see you all next time