I practiced climbing up the mast. I had seen someone in the city run up a wall, so I thought I'd try it on the mast. The first couple of times I landed flat on my back, but eventually I was able to grab a rope above my head. The only problem after that was that I wasn't quite strong enough to pull myself up to the next handhold. I was close, but not quite close enough.

   I was just trying to pull myself up again when I heard a door slam open. "ROOK STARRICK!" Edward shouted.

   I lost my grip and landed on my backside. "What?" I asked innocently.

   Edward glared at me. "You know what! I told you to wake me up in an hour so that you could rest!"

   "But I don't-"

   "You need to get rest right now!"

   My temper got the better of me, even though I heard people moving behind me. "I don't need any!" I glared at him. "I don't understand why people need to sleep! It's just a waste of time!"

   Edward stepped back. I noticed that he had his hood down, exposing his dirty blonde hair. "Alright! Alright! You don't need any. I get it."

   "No you don't," I muttered. I shot him one last glare and stomped off. The whole crew stared at me.

   "Man your stations!" Edward shouted behind me. "I need someone to pilot today! Roxim, You do that! Everyone else, take your orders from Roxim!"

   "Aye, aye cap'n!" the whole crew shouted. They all set to work. I didn't watch.

   I listened to the shouts behind me with half an ear and watched the river glide by. I sighed, watching the prow part the water smoothly. I heard a large bell ringing. My escape had been discovered. I looked down at the red cross I'd found on the deck after Edward had gone to bed. I held it out and dropped it over the edge.

   "Rook?"

   I turned and saw Edward holding a pile of equipment in his arms. I sighed. "What do you want Edward?"

   "I... wanted to start your training," he said. "If you don't object to being an assassin, that is."

   A tingle ran up my spine. "Really?" I forgot why I'd been mad at him a minute ago. "An assassin?"

   Edward laughed. "I believe that's what I said."

   "Yes! Of course I want to be an assassin!"

   "Follow me then," he said with a smile.

   I followed him down a ladder into the Jackdaw. I looked around. Hammocks lined both sides of the room we were in. Edward kept walking, through a door and into a larger room with scarecrow style dummies.

   Edward dropped the gear on a table and gestured to it. "That's all yours. Put it on and I'll teach you how to use it."

   I walked up to the table and spread everything out so I could see it all. Two swords, two bracers with an odd mechanism on it, a belt with two rings (I guessed it was for the swords), and two pistols with holsters, along with a pouch full of smoke bombs.

   I put the belt on first and slipped the swords into the rings. They made a pleasant scraping sound as they slide through the metal. It felt natural to have them there, same with the bracers and the pistols. I attached the pouch to my first belt that I'd gotten from my closet. I moved around experimentally to make sure I had everything in the right spot before turning to Edward.

   "How do I look?" I asked.

   Edward smirked. "Like an assassin lass," he said. "The only thing missing is a personal necklace, but that can be found later."

   "A personal necklace?" I asked. "Not like the one that I had previously?"

   "No, nothing like that," Edward said. "Every assassin gets their own necklace at some point that suits their personality. You'll find one eventually, don't worry."

   I rubbed the hilt of the sword on my right. "I see. What's first then?"

   "This," Edward flicked his wrists and a blade shot out in front of each hand. He held his hands back slightly to avoid the sharp edges. "Careful not to cut your hands. Just pull your wrists back and the blades with come out."

   I did as he said and felt the gears spin against the leather as the blades shot out. I held them up and studied them. I felt like I knew how to use them, even though Edward hadn't said anything yet. I knew that experimenting could be a bad idea, but I couldn't resist the temptation.

   "Could we spar?" I asked.

   Edward paused. "Are you sure?"

   "Quite sure."

   "I don't see why not. Just don't hurt yourself too badly."

   Edward and I stood facing each other for a moment before Edward leaped forward. Without thinking I blocked it, taking a swing of my own with the other hand. His blade swung down and clashed against mine. After that, I didn't let him attack. I didn't know how I knew how to use the hidden blades, but I did. I was pretty good at it.

   Unfortunately I wasn't as good as Edward. I took another swing and he blocked, whipping the other blade around. It hit my arm and made a shallow slash. I winced and backed up a step. Edward tilted his head and stayed where he was. I was about to ask what he was doing when he leaped forward, knocking me over. He pinned me down and smiled. "I win."

   I smirked at him. "Oh really? I think not."

   I curled my legs up and kicked his chest, grunting with the effort of pushing him off. As he struggled to regain his breath I touched the tip of my right blade to the back of his neck. "I believe I win."

   I stood up and flicked my wrists again. The hidden blades slid back into the leather of the bracer.

   Edward coughed and pushed himself up. "I"-cough-"didn't know you could use them."

   I held out a hand to him as he retracted his hidden blades. "Neither did I, but when you gave them to me I felt I knew how to use them."

   Edward frowned as he took my hand and I pulled him up. He brushed himself off and looked at me with a new interest. "Focus on me. As hard as you can. Use all of your senses."

   "That doesn't make any sense," I objected.

   "It will," he promised. "Just do it."

   "Alright..." I looked right at him, focused on the sound of his breath, the smell of salt, the way I knew he was there. Suddenly, the world around me turned into shades of gray and Edward glowed a bright, sky blue. The surprise of it made me loose focus and color popped back into my vision. Edward glowed for a moment longer before that too, faded. I looked away. "What was that?"

   "I might be old by your standards," he said with a laugh. "But I know when someone is descended from assassins. You, lass, are."

   "How is that possible?" I asked. "My father is a Templar."

   "Would that really have anything to do with it? What if your grandparents were assassins? Or your great-grandparents? You don't know about them. You just know about Starrick."

   "But what did I just do?" I asked.

   "It's called Eagle Vision," Edward explained. "It's something that only people descended from assassins can do. Blue means that they are a friend, gold means that they are your target, red means that they are your enemy, and white means they are just normal people. It's a useful gift, when you know how to use it."

   "What about the swords?" I was eager to learn how to use them. I didn't want to use my hidden blades and smoke bombs all the time!

   Edward laughed. "Swords it is. We'll leave the Eagle Vision for another day. When we reach Great Inagua I'll teach you free-running."

___________________________

Hey there everyone. I just read today that Edward's home is Great Inagua not Great Iguana. :P I'll need to go back and fix everything later (meaning a long time from now XD), but I'll try to remember that for future reference. **be proud. I remembered**

Q&A

No questions, but I'm happy to answer any for me or the characters.

If you thought Edward and Rook would fall in love, I'm sorry, they won't. Not in the way you want, anyway. Edward is almost fifteen years older than Rook. So sorry, not sorry. :D

May the wind blow strong in your sails!