so fill to me the parting glass

[jackdawvision]

Who: Edward Kenway and you!
What: Edward’s going on a trip! he’s expecting to come back, but just in case.
When: pre-Darkwalker.
Where: All around Milton, we’re doing a little goodbye tour!

Content Warnings: blanket Assassin’s Creed warnings.

[He needs to find what’s out there.

Yeah, it won’t be easy. Edward’s not sure he’ll be coming back—he hopes so, with all his heart, but he knows he might not. He debates with himself for a long while over what to bring and what to leave behind, and eventually he sighs and starts going around the town, bundled up for the cold and knocking on the doors of those he knows and cares about, even those he’s only spoken with once or twice, and asking them to come to the community center. He’s been here since the start, after all.

For those who had to deal with him when he was amnesiac, he has one thing to say to start this whole speech off:] I’m sorry for how I acted, toward some of you. That was unworthy of me. [He gestures to a rather large basket full of useful things.] Will you consider this a peace offering?

[He pauses to let that sink in, then, he says this:]

I mean to head out soon, and to find what lies beyond this town. I should come back soon, with information to give, but in case I don’t…I didn’t want to leave without a goodbye. Or a last dinner with what little civilization there is in this place. [A small, roguish smile. Those who saw the pirate might recognize it now.] Will you indulge this old, and former, pirate his last fancy?

[Oh shit, he really is leaving.

Afterward, he’ll be sticking around to talk to his close friends, and pass them a few things. But if you want, you can catch him before he goes—he’s happy to help, one last time.]

Comments

[jackdawvision]

[This man's new. God, Edward wishes he could stay, show him the ropes, tell him what he's learned. But he made his mind up to go and won't be swayed from his course no matter what, and so he nods.]

Aye. It's a dangerous land out there. [A lopsided smile.] But then I'm used to danger. [He can survive a while out there on his own. He's sure of that. He'll last as long as he can.] Hopefully? Answers. We won't find any if we stay here, so out I'll go.

[He pauses.]

You're new here, yeah? I'm Edward Kenway. Sorry the first time we see each other'll be the last as well.

[heckofashot]

[ That makes two of them. Maccready's been in and around danger for as long as he can remember. It's a wonder he's made it this far at all. He understands the desire to venture out in spite of danger — or maybe because of it — and far be it from him to try and convince a stranger to do otherwise. ]

I am, yeah. Maccready.

[ That he's pinned down immediately as someone new here isn't surprising. Given the number of people he's seen so far, he suspects it's hard not to stick out like a sore thumb as a newcomer. Still, he listens to Edward, and bites his tongue at the remark about their first meeting also being their last. It contradicts what he'd said to everyone earlier, that should sticking in his mind again. He gets it now, why it had sounded so odd. Like they were the words of a man who was already resigned to a certain outcome, one that doesn't involve him returning from whatever he finds outside the safety of the town. ]

Hoped people would've known how to get outta here, suppose they're the kind of answers you're looking for, huh?

[jackdawvision]

Aye. How to get out, how to fight back, whatever helps us survive. Or perhaps even thrive.

[He knows he's not coming back. Whether it's because he disappears or dies or finds the way east and a way home and sends those answers back, he won't come back here again. It tears at his heart to know this, because god does he want to come back. God he wants to stay and talk with his friends and with these new people who could be friends. But.

Well.

When you have to leave, you have to leave. And he's been putting this off long enough.]

Maccready, mate, take my advice. Don't eat the oyster mushrooms, they'll cause you to forget things and act a fool. There's a doctor in town you can speak to in case you need medical help, just ask for Dr. Goodsir. Drink the rosehip tea, you'll avoid scurvy that way. And...trust the people here. Most of them are good people who want to help you. Just give them the chance.

[heckofashot]

Imagining anything thriving here sounds impossible…

[ His voice is quiet, but it doesn't sound like he's knocking the idea. Survival is one thing — it's the thing, even — but that Edward even has hope they might find ways to thrive… It's speaks to him of humanity as a whole. How even in the worst of circumstances, they'll persevere and continue fighting forward, building lives, finding happiness. Doesn't seem to matter where they're from, when they're from. ]

Oh— I'll absolutely stay away from mushrooms, you can be sure of that.

[ There's a soft laugh, but he appreciates the advice more than he might show. Especially that last point — giving people chances isn't something he's great at, and Edward can't know that. Which means, in Maccready's mind at least, he must just be the sort of man who sees the good in people. ]

Thanks, though. I uh… I'll do my best, and hope that I don't need to see the doctor any time soon, [ a wry smile, his way of saying he'll try not to do anything stupid. He spares a glance around the hall, at the people who are still here. ] You… really care about these people, don't you?

[jackdawvision]

I thought that myself when I first got here, but look where we are now. We're stubborn as oxen that way.

[He has faith they'll continue even once he leaves town. He's done everything he can here, and he can't stay though he wishes he could, when the world outside is calling.

He does chuckle at the mushroom joke, but the cheer fades a little when he's asked the question. He looks around at the people who've come to see him off, his friends, the people he's only seen in passing. God, he will miss them so much.] ...aye. I suppose the best thing would've been to slip out in the night like a ghost and leave no trace behind, but.

[He lifts his shoulders in a shrug.]

A part of me will never not be selfish. I wanted to see them all one more time before I left town, and I didn't want them to wonder what had happened to me, so. Here we are.

[heckofashot]

True enough.

[ Does he know what oxen are? Probably not, but he knows every person he's ever met is stubborn in some way, so it's not a statement he's going to dispute. That he's standing here at all is enough proof of humanity's stubbornness, surely. Even without knowing the man opposite, it's hard not to miss the slight fall of humour, he can tell this must be hard for him. Not an easy decision to make, leaving behind people you care about. ]

Nah, I think leaving without saying anything would've just been the easy thing to do, not the best. Maybe it's selfish, but leaving 'em wondering and unsure would've been cruel.

[ This way, when he doesn't return, people will know at least. They might not know the exact specifics, but they won't have no answers at all. It's a sort of closure, he thinks, maybe not the most neatly tied off closure, but it has to be better than the alternative. Maccready has to believe that, for his own benefit. Likewise, he wants to believe that Edward won't simply vanish. ]

Hey, uh, I really hope you make it out of here, man.