Hey, Dorian, let me in. Got a favor to ask of you—quit complaining, he’s French, you like their food—and I’ve a bloody huge stack of papers to attend to before I leave, so. Can’t put this off.
[A normal person would walk in through the front door. Edward is currently hanging by his fingertips from a nearby windowsill. An actual rat is sitting in his hood beside his neck.
[Hauling ass up and over the ledge and into Arno’s home, thanks bro. The rat peeks its little snout out of Edward’s hood and chitters.]
Don’t you start. [This is apparently addressed to the rat. To Arno:] The hell’s that, a con-knee-show?
[Quit mangling French.]
Look, I’m leaving the city for a job—might take two months or more, depending on how the wind and the waves treat us. So… [He takes the rat out of his hood, and the little guy sits up and gives Arno a once-over.]
His name’s Bonnet. [After an old, dead friend who’d liked the finer things in life, too.] He’s, shockingly, a better cook than any man I’ve ever seen, but he’s picky about the kitchens he works in and he told me he wouldn’t touch the Jackdaw’s galley for all the cheese in the world, so.
You still alive there? We're still alive, and we've been trying to reach you for weeks. Tell me you didn't get eaten by some errant demon while I was at sea.
Almost-Templar on the network. I have it on good authority she's a vengeful, arrogant, dangerous little tart—don't engage her, at least not for too long.
At this rate, we might get an actual Templar here.
Merde. She's far too familiar in how she acts, and I unfortunately don't mean that in any kind sense of the word. I know a man who is almost exactly like her, and believe me when I say this, Kenway- There is a reason the common Frenchmen share no love for nobility as it stands now.
The last thing we need is a Grandmaster. I've enough trouble chasing after the one back home- adding one to the mess that Kaisou is facing is only asking for trouble.
I've known quite a few men who act quite like she does, and one of them is dead by my blade. [Good riddance, Commodore Whatsisname.] Aye, I believe you.
Well, let's hope that if we do get a Templar swanning about the city, [almost a guarantee considering this woman] they're not the sort for Grandmaster. Besides, between you and me we can likely take care of them easily.
Anyway. I wanted to warn you, and to ask if you could look out for those on the Jackdaw, should something happen to me.
I've met several who come close, but this is almost terrifying on a whole new level.
[A snort.] I'd believe that were I couple years younger. The Grandmasters are ones that are far more careful and slippery compared to the Templar who like to put themselves into public view. But yes, if one shows themselves, we'll take care of them.
[Though that request gets a pause, and it's almost too easy to imagine Arno tilting his head in the sense of "don't you fucking joke with me right now, shut up."]
Kenway, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I just heard you say "look out for those on the Jackdaw should something happen to me."
[SIR, DO NOT USE THAT TERMINOLOGY WITH HIM, HE HAS LOST TOO MANY PEOPLE ALREADY.]
Oh, I know. Hard to hide these days when every fool’s got a camera in their hand.
[There’s a beat, during which Edward thinks about Torres and the Templars.]
…are you sure about that? Torres was as easily fooled as the rest of his Order by a dead man’s costume.
[Maybe best not to ask how Edward acquired that dead man’s costume.]
You did. She threatened one of mine. If she moves to act on that threat, I won’t let her leave the city alive. [A breath.] I don’t expect there to be a fight, but if it comes to one, I might not walk away from it. But I’ll make sure she goes down with me.
I'm sure if they managed to survive until now, they learned how to hide just as well as we do.
[A beat, and Arno scoffs.] You've never met a man by the name of Germaine, and all I can say is you should be thankful for it. [Germaine is like a cockroach, and even worse, he's incredibly smart as well.] He would make everything in this city so much worse, all while looking like a completely normal person.
[But at the explanation... well. There's a sigh at this, and Arno understands. He nods, even if he fucking hates agreeing to it.]
Focus on her and coming back alive. If you've done all you've told me about, this shouldn't be difficult, provided you plan accordingly.
[Not too dissimilar to Roberts, then, Edward thinks. He’d taken to piracy well, so well that Edward had heard Black Bart Roberts’ name on the lips of many British soldiers back in Kingston. So well that he’s in that damned pack of lies some fellow calling himself Charles Johnson wrote. But Edward’s known the man personally, known his cruelties as far, far in excess of even the most brutal men Edward knew.]
I knew someone a bit like that. He looked like any other half-starved sailor, when we first met, but he told me once—he saw all men as sheep, and himself as a wolf, who deserved every ounce of blood his claws would draw from them. A man like that in the Templars, a man who could smile and smile and with it cover a heart as black as pitch…
[He lets his sentence trail off. Arno knows better than anyone else how that turns out, it’s clear.]
Well. If ever he shows up here, we’ll take him on before he manages to gather enough power in the city. The Templars need a foothold first before they can start making everything worse, and between the two of us, I think we can keep them too unsteady for that.
[Spoken like an Assassin, though he isn’t one himself. But Ah Tabai had given him back his robes and his blades, instead of taking both with him—that must mean something. And Mary…
I’ll be with you.]
I’ve a plan, aye. Fear not, I’ll do my best not to die to some tart such as her. Still, I’ve sailed for long enough to know that no one can plan for everything that happens in a fight, so if this doesn’t go well—look out for them. Dan Heng and Mikleo in particular.
paper note slipped under arno’s door; pre-zodiac post
[Once Arno gets there, Edward’s waiting for him, perched on one of the rock bits behind the seated figure. He waves a hello, and calls down:] Get on up here, there’s plenty of room!
[Fate was unbelievably cruel, to drop with the inevitable reckoning a man of legend Diarmuid recognized and respected in so twisted a form and a man who is or was an assassin as well. To say nothing of this mysterious third party Cu Chulainn spoke of.
This Shay character said something concerningly familiar to Researcher Lotus and with one point of contact asleep...]
Arno, are you familiar with that man Shay? He spoke the Assassin's motto.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
voice; un: captainkenway, post-horror plot
[A normal person would walk in through the front door. Edward is currently hanging by his fingertips from a nearby windowsill. An actual rat is sitting in his hood beside his neck.
The rat is judging Edward, somehow.]
no subject
What are you-
[And yeah, there's the sight of the pirate dangling from a windowsill, Arno immediately opening his window and snapping at the other man.]
Edward?! [Oh good god.] Get inside, cornichon. Are you insane?!
[ARNO DID YOU JUST CALL HIM A PICKLE?!]
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Don’t you start. [This is apparently addressed to the rat. To Arno:] The hell’s that, a con-knee-show?
[Quit mangling French.]
Look, I’m leaving the city for a job—might take two months or more, depending on how the wind and the waves treat us. So… [He takes the rat out of his hood, and the little guy sits up and gives Arno a once-over.]
His name’s Bonnet. [After an old, dead friend who’d liked the finer things in life, too.] He’s, shockingly, a better cook than any man I’ve ever seen, but he’s picky about the kitchens he works in and he told me he wouldn’t touch the Jackdaw’s galley for all the cheese in the world, so.
voice; un: captainkenway, 11/15
voice; un: captainkenway, 02/01
At this rate, we might get an actual Templar here.
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The last thing we need is a Grandmaster. I've enough trouble chasing after the one back home- adding one to the mess that Kaisou is facing is only asking for trouble.
no subject
Well, let's hope that if we do get a Templar swanning about the city, [almost a guarantee considering this woman] they're not the sort for Grandmaster. Besides, between you and me we can likely take care of them easily.
Anyway. I wanted to warn you, and to ask if you could look out for those on the Jackdaw, should something happen to me.
no subject
[A snort.] I'd believe that were I couple years younger. The Grandmasters are ones that are far more careful and slippery compared to the Templar who like to put themselves into public view. But yes, if one shows themselves, we'll take care of them.
[Though that request gets a pause, and it's almost too easy to imagine Arno tilting his head in the sense of "don't you fucking joke with me right now, shut up."]
Kenway, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I just heard you say "look out for those on the Jackdaw should something happen to me."
[SIR, DO NOT USE THAT TERMINOLOGY WITH HIM, HE HAS LOST TOO MANY PEOPLE ALREADY.]
no subject
[There’s a beat, during which Edward thinks about Torres and the Templars.]
…are you sure about that? Torres was as easily fooled as the rest of his Order by a dead man’s costume.
[Maybe best not to ask how Edward acquired that dead man’s costume.]
You did. She threatened one of mine. If she moves to act on that threat, I won’t let her leave the city alive. [A breath.] I don’t expect there to be a fight, but if it comes to one, I might not walk away from it. But I’ll make sure she goes down with me.
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[A beat, and Arno scoffs.] You've never met a man by the name of Germaine, and all I can say is you should be thankful for it. [Germaine is like a cockroach, and even worse, he's incredibly smart as well.] He would make everything in this city so much worse, all while looking like a completely normal person.
[But at the explanation... well. There's a sigh at this, and Arno understands. He nods, even if he fucking hates agreeing to it.]
Focus on her and coming back alive. If you've done all you've told me about, this shouldn't be difficult, provided you plan accordingly.
no subject
I knew someone a bit like that. He looked like any other half-starved sailor, when we first met, but he told me once—he saw all men as sheep, and himself as a wolf, who deserved every ounce of blood his claws would draw from them. A man like that in the Templars, a man who could smile and smile and with it cover a heart as black as pitch…
[He lets his sentence trail off. Arno knows better than anyone else how that turns out, it’s clear.]
Well. If ever he shows up here, we’ll take him on before he manages to gather enough power in the city. The Templars need a foothold first before they can start making everything worse, and between the two of us, I think we can keep them too unsteady for that.
[Spoken like an Assassin, though he isn’t one himself. But Ah Tabai had given him back his robes and his blades, instead of taking both with him—that must mean something. And Mary…
I’ll be with you.]
I’ve a plan, aye. Fear not, I’ll do my best not to die to some tart such as her. Still, I’ve sailed for long enough to know that no one can plan for everything that happens in a fight, so if this doesn’t go well—look out for them. Dan Heng and Mikleo in particular.
paper note slipped under arno’s door; pre-zodiac post
Meet me at the statue in the Seven Stars Mall.
[Once Arno gets there, Edward’s waiting for him, perched on one of the rock bits behind the seated figure. He waves a hello, and calls down:] Get on up here, there’s plenty of room!
gemini text; un: goldenrose
This Shay character said something concerningly familiar to Researcher Lotus and with one point of contact asleep...]
Arno, are you familiar with that man Shay? He spoke the Assassin's motto.