Hey guys, Another Chapter! Sorry, it feels a bit jumbled! Go ahead read, review, and follow :)

-Moon

A few days after they left the homestead Faulkner kept his word. The old sea goat taught them the different aspects of the ship. He even allowed them to sail with the crew. Catherine loved every minute of it. She felt the wind run through her hair as she took command of the ship, Connor stood by her side as he watched. Robert Faulkner gave her advice on how to keep a firm grip on the wheel.

A feeling of nostalgia hit the teenager back to her younger years on the Morrgaton. Shay had taken her into the sea once, then another when she snuck onto the ship to run away from home to be with him. The ache of missing him came back in small doses, she missed both of her parents. The small apartment above the tavern with a cozy fire from the stove. One fond memory she had was his hands that ran his fingers through her hair as he tried to braid her hair. Robert Faulkner rough pat on the shoulder woke her from her memory talking about their location.

The destination was Martha's Vineyard, which was on the horizon past the rocks. The ship docked at the small coastal town where they were finally able to step off the ship. It was quite a cozy town, but they didn't give a chance to actually look around. Mister Faulkner took the two teenagers to a seaside inn right next to the docks. Aries landed on the signage post right above the door to wait for Catherine to return. The hawk had to take turns between flying to resting on the Aquila. Robert called him their small mascot.

"This is where we more than likely find our officers," Robert explained

Catherine always knew a sailor's favorite spot was the taverns where the drinks would always run, food to fill their bellies, and women to keep them company. Her mother had always practice this in her tavern beside the prostitutes. Rose would have never allowed a prostitute to serve in her pub unless they were working an honest living as a barmaid.

When the trio stepped inside the small inn, Robert gave a frim hello to an older woman by the name Amanda. "Hello miss. Mandy, you're looking every bit as ravishing as I remember," He gave a charming smile

By her age, Catherine would have guessed she was already married, but she had a spiteful yet proud look on her face. Catherine guessed not from the old woman expression.

"After all this time Bobby, you decide to sail here to pay a visit and shower me with compliments?"

Robert cleared his throat to show it was a sign of business while the two assassins in training lingered. "We are actually looking for David and Richard Clutterbuck."

"Mmmh, nice to see you too." She gestured where the two men were.

From the looks of the two men, they were brothers, hence the shared last name. The Irish lass could see the resemblance. "Robert Falukner…where the hell have you been all these years." The older brother spoke who she assumed was David and the other was Richard.

Robert took a seat to have a conversation with the two men before looking his shoulder at the younger ones, "Why don't you two go grab yourselves a plate of food? I have some talking to do with these fellas."

Catherine nodded as she grabbed Connor arm and headed to the bar where Mandy was behind it. She stood there with her spiteful look before seeing the two teenagers, "I hope Bobby isn't dragging you two into any trouble."

"We just finished repairs on the Aquila and needed gunnery officers," Connor replied as he took a seat with Catherine

"The Ghost of the North is flying in the wind again? Well, I be… who is her captain?"

The two novices looked at each other then back at Mandy, "Of course…I guess Bobby is training you to take over," She looked right at Connor, who then turned his head to look at Catherine.

Catherine hated the feeling of being passed over as Captain. Yet it was an oddity to see a woman to be a captain. Her status as a woman would not be taken seriously. "She has any fair chance as I do becoming Captain."

"Well, it that is true." Amanda spoke without giving up her sour look, "What your names?"

"I am Catherine Cormac, and this is my associate Connor,"

"Cormac?" Amanda raised an eyebrow, "Well, you might have some talent in ya after all."

Catherine snorted a little, "Heard of my father, haven't ya."

"I should have known who you were since the moment you walked in 'ere, Your mother spent some time here, in fact, she had you right upstairs in my back room. You weren't a quiet one for sure. Had the strongest pair of lungs I ever heard. The poor thing was heartbroken your pa wasn't here to experience it."

Catherine seemed a little surprised to hear this news, her mother had always told her that she had never left Boston, in fact, she was even born in a tavern inside of Boston. "She never told me that," Another family secret.

Yet, her mother was an assassin novice when she left the brotherhood behind to marry her father before he betrayed them.

"You will have to ask her about that." Amanda shrugged her shoulders, seeming unaware of the news of her mother's death, but Catherine decided against it. "Now, why don't I bring you both out some grub? Huh? Some hare stew."

"That would be nice,"

Catherine turned her head to the spot where Connor was, but the native was gone.

Where did he go?

"Looks like your friend is about to catch himself a thrashing," Catherine overheard one of the gunnery officers spoke up.

Uh oh

Catherine jumped from her seat to stop Connor from causing a scene, but the girl was late. Connor was standing at the table of two men, one was a younger gentleman who looked to be a sea captain while the other was Benjamin Church, the Templar.

"Where is Charles Lee?"

Catherine went to pull the boy back, but the native yanked his arm away. "Connor, stop."

Church gave the boy a stern glare, "You should listen to your girlfriend boy, I don't much care for your tone."

The other younger man stood up in his seat to tower over the two teenagers, "You two kitties should head back to your hole…"He growled.

Robert came over in just the nick of time to settle down the argument, "Hold up Biddle, there is no reason for this."

"Bobby Faulkner," The man smirked, he reminding Catherine of a weasel the way he pushed Connor aside, "Turned to wet nursing, have we? I see you finally realized a shite sailor."

"If he is such a shit sailor, then what does that make you?"

The man known as Biddle turned his head to the girl who clearly insulted him. "Watch your tongue girl, or I can cut it out."

"Cormac don't instigate anything," Robert pulled Catherine back

Biddle had a twinkle in his eye when he heard the girl's surname. She quickly glances at Robert who soon realized his mistake. "Your Shay's girl? Huh? I just saw him no more than a week ago. Everyone is looking for ya."

"Aye, I am his daughter. If he wants to find me, he can find me himself."

"Here I thought you'd be hiding behind your Father's legs."

"I am my own woman and don't need my father's approval for everything."

Biddle snorted, "No wonder he left you, maybe if you were born a boy-"

Catherine lost it at the last comment and went to go attack the man, but Connor grabbed her quickly to stop her from doing something she would regret. His sheer strength was able to lift her off the ground. Amanda came charging over to dissolve the situation, "Not in here! Now in my place!" She got in between Biddle and Robert. She gave her full attention to Robert, "Bobby take your friends and get out please!"

"Alright the lot of you, we shall get going."

Catherine gave one hard glare before leaving with her group, Robert went ahead and grabbed Connor's arm before they headed back to the Aquila. "What the bloody hell was that boy!?"

Connor's nostrils flared as he spoke,"The older man is a Templar," He was storming onto the ship.

"He is in Haytham's inner circle." Catherine pushed her hair back in anger, she was furious that Biddle had called out her gender. "If I ever see that weasel of a man again….who was that man?! The younger one."

"Templars…."Faulkner made a look of distaste like he smelled a dead rat that was rotting away, "The young buck was Nichalos Biddle, he is a nobody, sails for the crown."

Catherine walked up the plank of the ship, "If I ever see him again…I am going to rip him a new one."

"He had no right to talk to you like that…" Connor agreed.

He was furious, no one should be talked down just because they were different. Catherine was use to being belittled because of her gender. Connor was unaware of the social injustice in the colonies; he didn't understand why things were like this. He came to better understanding why people like himself, Achilles, and Catherine didn't have a higher chance in this world unless you were male of European descent. She was ready to rise above it though.

Catherine walked up to the helm as Connor took the wheel, "Its okay, let's just cast the sails and get the hell out of here."

"Agreed, we can test out the guns." Robert patted Catherine shoulder, "I am sure you would like to test out the swivel gun Catherine."

"I would mind blasting a hole into something!" Catherine shouted as she leaned on the railing of the ship looking out towards the horizon. The sails were cast as Catherine gave a lingering look at Martha's Vineyard. Her father was looking for her, as well as the Templars. She would rather if her father found her himself.

Within a few hours, the Aquila was making headway towards a location that Faulkner knew where they could get decent practice firing. Catherine listened to the Clutterbuck brothers explain to her the care of the guns on a ship. When working on the canons on a ship the young girl learned all the steps to when loading a cannon

David took a wet swab, in which he explained it was to mop out the interior of the barrel, its purpose to put out any embers from when it was previously fired. He explained to the girl if that if it wasn't extinguished, the canon could backfire. David once witnessed a man lose four of his fingers because the interior of the canon wasn't mopped on the inside. He proceeded to show her how to pack the canon with a shot. It all seemed to be tedious, but she watched as the sailors went to work on loading the canons.

"We got a good amount of guns to start off with, but there is always room for more." Faulkner spoke up, "Catherine why don't you join us up here. I am sure you will want to witness this."

There were two abandon ships on the rocks on both sides of the Aquila, "There are our targets, go ahead give the order"

Catherine realized in a second that cannons made loud noises. Her eyes widen in fear of having one of her episodes when the cannons fired. She steady to make her way onto helms overlooking the deck.

Connor raised his hand for the crew to ready to fire.

Catherine was ready to hit the deck with the roar of the cannons. A loud blast of the canons as the shots rain down on the abandon ship. The sound didn't phase her, but Connor and Faulkner had concerning expression.

She gave an awkward smile, "Sorry…I don't like a loud bang."

The ship had exploded into an inferno causing debris rain down into the sea. Faulkner congratulated the boy on his position and gave him his next target.

The second wave of cannon fire blasted into the bow of the old ship. Pieces clasped into the Atlantic to give a view of a room that held gunpowder from years ago. A few barrels were tucked away neatly, untouched. This gave Catherine an idea as she walked over to the swivel gun.

The sounds of cannon fire were different then sound of muskets. It was less menacing, more powerful. The hair stood up on the back of her neck as she felt the ship rock from the launch of the canons.

"May I?" She looked at the sailor that was commanding it, "Connor, I am going to aim at those old barrels! Just give the single and I will fire."

Connor gave her a smile, "Open fire!" She was handling the canons better than expected.

Catherine pulled the trigger and held tightly onto the gun as the recoiled. The wreckage exploded into a million pieces. The crew cheered loudly. Unaware that the royal navy had been caught wind of the Aquila.

Shay lingered in his cabin on the Morrigan with a drink in hand. He needed to clear his mind, so he left Boston once again. He could only stare out the window near his bed thinking of Rose again. The captain was wrecked with guilt, but he chooses to not show it. He could remember the first time he brought his new wife onto the ship all those years ago. They made sweet love in the bed, and after they cuddle with soft laughs and talk about the future. Shay missed the soft tickle along his neck from his wife sweet lips. He missed the days of their young love and regret every moment from being away.

A sound that was almost like a crack of thunder woke him from his thoughts. Shay quickly downed his drink before going on deck. Gist and the rest of the crew hung on the left side of the ship looking at the smoke that rosed in the distance.

"What in blazes is that?" Gist asked as he steps up next to the Captain with concern.

"We should check it out." Shay took the wheel and order full sail. He heard more and more gunfire and return gunfire. He saw a schooner firing upon several smaller gunboats that sailed under the crown. He thought it was a merchant ship at first, he was ready to sail into the rescue of the ship until he saw it firing back.

"Shall we jump in Shay?" His quartermaster asked.

Shay took out his spyglass from robe pocket and closely spied upon the ship's name, Aquila. His eyes widen at the pure sight of the Ship. The Ghost of the North had risen again. The ship was in Commission when he was a younger man as an Assassin. He remembered he was the one that had sunk the last of the Assassins ship. Were the Assassins on the rise again? He took a moment to see who the captain of the ship was when he noticed a red hair flying in the wind. The owner of the fiery red hair was a young girl barking orders at the crewmen as a native piloted the ship. He almost dropped his spyglass when he steady his focus on her. Catherine, his own daughter, was in the middle sea waring battle against the British. He didn't take a second thought,

"Ready the mortar!" Shay shouted, "Fire upon the gunboats, but don't hit the Aquila!"

"The Aquila?! Didn't we sink that her years ago?!"

Shay looked at him dead in the face, "Catherine is on that ship."

Gist didn't question it a second longer as he quickly blasted orders to the crew. They had a mutual feeling to protect that ship. "What the hell is she doing out here!?" Shay said to himself, he was told she was Connecticut, why is she out here on the East Coast. His stomach twisted at the idea of his daughter dying at sea. Maybe after this is over, he could have a conversation with her. Just her and him and without being scared off.

Catherine was unaware of her father watching her from miles away not even after she saw a mortar shot take down the gunboats. "What the hell is that?"

"It's a mortar shot! Get out of there line of fire!" Robert shouted at Connor, he tossed a spyglass to Catherine, "See you can spot the bloody ship so we can stay out of its range!" Catherine followed his command and pushed it against her eye to watch out for the unknown ship. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine it be her father. He was firing upon the gunboats, not them. Did he know that she was aboard this vessel?

"Connor get us out of here." Catherine shouted looking back, "It's a Templar's vessel."

"How do you know?" Robert asked

"It's my father,"

Connor and Faulkner understood at that moment; Connor gave a brief order to go at full sail giving them the chance to get away from the ships. Catherine's heart raced in her chest as she watched the Morrgian made herself known. Catherine stood on the deck looking into her eyeglass and saw her father. He looked the same besides his hair growing grey. For a brief moment.

There was a moment where they had seen each other. If the sea captain stood in front of her, she was unsure what she would do, or say.

She lowered her glass as they sailed away from the bigger ship as the last gunboat sunk. Aries landed next to the young woman as gently stroked his feathers. "Aries," The bird nuzzled her face in response. In her hand, she was mindlessly playing the pendant that she had received for her birthday. Catherine rips the black cord from her neck before holding it in front Aries.

"Do you think you can deliver this to that ship?"

The bird stared blankless at the piece of jewelry. Catherine suddenly felt stupid for asking a bird to do this task even though she believed he was a bright bird. The bird held out its leg with his talons extended. She gave it to the bird to grip before the hawk flew off.

Catherine was returning the gift her father gave her. She knew he'd be hurt by it, but she wanted him to know her pain of the abandonment he gave his family.

"We better get back, or the old man will have my guts for garters," Faulkner spoke up as they quickly sailed into away from her father. Aries would catch up to them with no doubt.

The Captain of the Morrigan lowered his spyglass when he heard a cry of a bird that was louder than the seagulls. A soft thud could be heard only a mere foot from him. Shay stepped closer to the object on the ground to see what had fallen from the sky. The necklace he had purchased for Catherine was next to his boot.

Shay picked up the necklace clutching it in his hands. He knew what she was showing, but he understood, but it didn't hurt any less.

When they arrived back at the manor, three weeks had gone by since they left the homestead. Connor had overly enjoyed himself, while Catherine was almost quiet the whole time. Her mind wonder about her father. What if they had crossed paths at sea and fired upon each other one day. Would he kill her? That was a question that haunted her every day.

The two teenagers made their way up to the homestead where they both knew Achilles was waiting for them. "Gone for three weeks, and not even a goodbye?" Achilles looked sternly at his students. "As well as leaving a messing my kitchen."

Catherine scratched the back of her head, "We didn't plan on being that long, we are really sorry." She apologized as she got a stink eye from the old man. Catherine felt embarrassed about the mess.

Connor bowed his head in shame expecting a long scolding, but instead, Achilles did something suprising instead. He beckon the two of them to follow him down to the basement. She was expecting another lecture to come from the old man, but the native seemed to only stair at the old robes that hung on the practice dummy that they used to train time to time.

Achilles straightens up as he spoke. "Put it on." Connor turned his head towards his teacher, "Its time,"

Connor opened his mouth to thank his mentor but bowed his head before taking it off the mannequin to go change upstairs in his room. Catherine lingered for a moment before going to follow him, but Achilles called for her to stay.

"Catherine, stay for a moment."

She stopped in her place before turning to the old man, "Yes?"

He went to the table to show a letter to the young woman, "It seems Master. Dorian wants a word with you. He wants you to go to his residence in Charlestown. I think he may have word on the manuscript and if you truly want to see this through." There was an open letter on the table with a wrapped parcel next to it. Achilles picked it up and handed it to her. " It might be useful to take this."

Catherine took it from the old man and began to unwrap it. "I found this on your desk in your room while you were away. I had it sent out for someone to fit it to you and repair it." Achilles explained as he leaned on his cane.

A dark grey fabric sat in her hands. It was her Father's robes she had rescued from the cellar. She unfolded it out to examine it a bit better, the craftsmanship on this made it look like it was new. The sleeves were shortened to fit her arm length and so was the tail of the coat. It was almost the exact same as before besides the hood that had embroidery on the hood.

"Go put it on, you're going to be one of us too."

"My father's robes though…"

"I thought it would be poetic."

A smile pressed her lips as she leaned in and hug the old man, who seemed a little taken by surprise at the gesture. "Thank you, Achilles…thank you for giving me this chance." Everything had gone too fast for her, but she was just slowly accepted it.

"It wasn't easy my dear." He pulled away after he patted her back, "I was sure you would have left by now for the search of your father."

"Well, I didn't, I am here to stay."

"I hope that is the case."

Catherine nodded, "I won't, I've seen what the Templars have done, and I won't turn a blind eye to it."

Catherine walked upstairs with Achilles to the main hall of the house were Connor was waiting with his on.

"Once upon a time, we use to hold ceremonies on such occasions, but I get the feeling that we are not that type." Achilles spoke as he was remembering the past looking at the native who was now an Assassin. "You have your tools, training, and knowledge." He then turned to Catherine. "I know you just began this journey and have much to learn, but you have your goals and targets. Catherine. You have been hard at work. Dorian has actually taken interest in your training."

"R-really?" The Irish lass was surprised at the proposal, she didn't expect that from Dorian. "Will he be staying in Massachusettes?"

"You will have to inquire that with him, but I suggest you leave soon as possible."

Achilles left the main hall to leave the two teenagers alone. Connor touched his robes to admire it for himself. Catherine was still a little shock about the whole thing. Did Achilles just throw her into the brotherhood? She hadn't given him answer on becoming an Assassin. It did feel right holding her father's old robes.

Catherine slowly pulled on the robes, feeling the world fall on her shoulders. She grabbed her mother's red scarf she wore around her neck, looping it in a hood pulling it up.