Greater Inagua, March 1716
May. 6th, 2021 08:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
doesnotkneelAfter the death of DuCasse, the theft of his galleon and the “removal” of the rest of the Frenchman’s men from the cove on Greater Inagua, Thatch had sailed for Nassau with the Spanish galleon, taking most of the men with him.
Edward, Adewalé and Kidd had remained behind with some vague idea of how they might utilize the cove. "With a bit of fixing up," Edward had told Kidd, "We could make a home here."
What Ed had in mind, of course, was using the cove by relaxing on its beaches and drinking until the supplies of rum ran dry, then returning to Nassau. And tell them all,'Oh, you constructed the fortified harbour without me! What a shame I missed the opportunity to help.' Something like that.
What Kidd had in mind remained a mystery. At least until today. “I've got something to show you,” he'd said, and led Edward to some Mayan stones.
“Odd-looking things, aren’t they?”
From a distance they’d looked like a collection of rubble, but up close were actually a carefully arranged formation of strangely carved blocks.
“Is this what they call Mayan?” Edward asked him, staring at the rock closely. “Or is it Aztec?”
Kidd looked at him. He wore that same penetrating, quizzical look he always seemed to whenever Edward caught him in conversation. It was... uncomfortable. As if Kidd had something to say, and yet refrained from doing so for reasons of his own.
Those cards he held close to his chest, there were times Edward wanted to wrench his hands away and get a good look.
Still, Edward's instincts said that he’d find out in good time.
“Are you good with riddles, Edward?” Kidd asked. “Puzzles and ponderings and the like?”
“I’m no worse than the next man,” Edward said carefully. “Why?”
“I think you have a natural gift for it. I’ve sensed it for some time, in the way you work and think. The way you understand the world.”
“I’m not so sure about that. You’re talking in riddles now, and I don’t understand a word.”
Kidd nodded. “Clamber on top of this thing here, will you? Help me solve something.”
Together they scrambled to the top of the rocks. When James put a hand to Edward's leg he looked down at it, just as tanned, weathered and worn as that of any pirate, with the same latticework of tiny cuts and scars earned at sea. But smaller, the fingers slightly tapered, and Ed wondered what it was doing there. If... But no. Surely not.
Now Kidd was speaking, and he sounded more serious than before, like a holy man in contemplation.
“Concentrate and focus all your senses. Look past shadow and sound, deep into matter, until you see and hear a kind of shimmering.”
Oh. That was what this was about. That strange feeling he'd had in Fandom a few times, that made him see... something about Isabelle normal humans weren't supposed to. It wasn't quite seeing, it was more like... feeling with your eyes.
It still came natural to him, as it turned out.
“Shimmering,” Edward said quietly. It was in the air around him, a more vivid version of those times at Fandom, or even sitting in the farmyard at home in Hatherton, late at night when it seemed as if the world had suddenly become that bit brighter and more clear.
Edward had been able to hear things with extra clarity, see things ahead he hadn’t been able to see before, and here was the funny thing: as though there was contained within him a huge bank, a huge vault of knowledge awaiting his access, and all he needed to open it was the key.
There it was, sitting there, with Kidd’s hand gripping his leg.
For the first time, it didn't feel like a fluke; it felt like the key. An answer as to why Edward had felt different, even beyond the effects of his strange education.
“You understand?” hissed Kidd.
“I think so. I’ve seen its like before. Glowing, like moonlight on the ocean. It’s like using every sense at once to see sounds and hear shapes. Quite a combination.”
“Every man and woman on Earth has in them a kind of intuition hidden away,” Kidd was saying as Edward gazed around himself like a blind man who had suddenly tripped upon sight.
“I’ve had this sense most of my life,” he told Kidd, “seen the strangest things, but in a glance, by accident.”
“Most never find it,” said Kidd. “Others it takes years to tease out. But for a rare few it comes as natural as breathing. What you feel is the light of life. Of living things past and present. The residue of vitality come and gone. Practice. Intuition. Any man’s senses can be tuned well past what he is born with. If he tries.”
And just like that, one of the grandest mysteries of Edward's life had found its answer.
[[ taken from the Assassin's Creed: Black Flag novelization ]]
Edward, Adewalé and Kidd had remained behind with some vague idea of how they might utilize the cove. "With a bit of fixing up," Edward had told Kidd, "We could make a home here."
What Ed had in mind, of course, was using the cove by relaxing on its beaches and drinking until the supplies of rum ran dry, then returning to Nassau. And tell them all,'Oh, you constructed the fortified harbour without me! What a shame I missed the opportunity to help.' Something like that.
What Kidd had in mind remained a mystery. At least until today. “I've got something to show you,” he'd said, and led Edward to some Mayan stones.
“Odd-looking things, aren’t they?”
From a distance they’d looked like a collection of rubble, but up close were actually a carefully arranged formation of strangely carved blocks.
“Is this what they call Mayan?” Edward asked him, staring at the rock closely. “Or is it Aztec?”
Kidd looked at him. He wore that same penetrating, quizzical look he always seemed to whenever Edward caught him in conversation. It was... uncomfortable. As if Kidd had something to say, and yet refrained from doing so for reasons of his own.
Those cards he held close to his chest, there were times Edward wanted to wrench his hands away and get a good look.
Still, Edward's instincts said that he’d find out in good time.
“Are you good with riddles, Edward?” Kidd asked. “Puzzles and ponderings and the like?”
“I’m no worse than the next man,” Edward said carefully. “Why?”
“I think you have a natural gift for it. I’ve sensed it for some time, in the way you work and think. The way you understand the world.”
“I’m not so sure about that. You’re talking in riddles now, and I don’t understand a word.”
Kidd nodded. “Clamber on top of this thing here, will you? Help me solve something.”
Together they scrambled to the top of the rocks. When James put a hand to Edward's leg he looked down at it, just as tanned, weathered and worn as that of any pirate, with the same latticework of tiny cuts and scars earned at sea. But smaller, the fingers slightly tapered, and Ed wondered what it was doing there. If... But no. Surely not.
Now Kidd was speaking, and he sounded more serious than before, like a holy man in contemplation.
“Concentrate and focus all your senses. Look past shadow and sound, deep into matter, until you see and hear a kind of shimmering.”
Oh. That was what this was about. That strange feeling he'd had in Fandom a few times, that made him see... something about Isabelle normal humans weren't supposed to. It wasn't quite seeing, it was more like... feeling with your eyes.
It still came natural to him, as it turned out.
“Shimmering,” Edward said quietly. It was in the air around him, a more vivid version of those times at Fandom, or even sitting in the farmyard at home in Hatherton, late at night when it seemed as if the world had suddenly become that bit brighter and more clear.
Edward had been able to hear things with extra clarity, see things ahead he hadn’t been able to see before, and here was the funny thing: as though there was contained within him a huge bank, a huge vault of knowledge awaiting his access, and all he needed to open it was the key.
There it was, sitting there, with Kidd’s hand gripping his leg.
For the first time, it didn't feel like a fluke; it felt like the key. An answer as to why Edward had felt different, even beyond the effects of his strange education.
“You understand?” hissed Kidd.
“I think so. I’ve seen its like before. Glowing, like moonlight on the ocean. It’s like using every sense at once to see sounds and hear shapes. Quite a combination.”
“Every man and woman on Earth has in them a kind of intuition hidden away,” Kidd was saying as Edward gazed around himself like a blind man who had suddenly tripped upon sight.
“I’ve had this sense most of my life,” he told Kidd, “seen the strangest things, but in a glance, by accident.”
“Most never find it,” said Kidd. “Others it takes years to tease out. But for a rare few it comes as natural as breathing. What you feel is the light of life. Of living things past and present. The residue of vitality come and gone. Practice. Intuition. Any man’s senses can be tuned well past what he is born with. If he tries.”
And just like that, one of the grandest mysteries of Edward's life had found its answer.
[[ taken from the Assassin's Creed: Black Flag novelization ]]
