Arthur gently opened the cabin door and stepped outside. The sound immediately attracted the attention of a nearby zombie, which started to shamble directly toward him. Arthur swiftly readied his bow, drawing an arrow from the quiver and pulling the string back. Thanks to Edward Kenway's ingrained combat experience, he instinctively took aim and released the shot. With a sharp fshh, the arrow flew true, striking the zombie directly in the head. The creature dropped instantly. Arthur exhaled, lowering his bow. "First zombie kill, eh?" A small smirk touched his lips.
He retreated inside to collect necessities, finding food, water, and medicine readily available in the small cabin. He packed everything neatly into a duffel bag before heading back out. Arthur took a deep breath, exclaiming, "Ah, the smell of fresh air and... rotting corpse, ugh." He scanned the immediate area and noticed a fenced enclosure where five more zombies were attempting to cross.
Arthur drew his bowstring and set an arrow, releasing it with a sharp woosh. The first zombie fell. Before it even hit the ground, he nocked and shot a second arrow, hitting its mark and dropping another walker.
The sound of the falling bodies drew the remaining three towards him, their movements a limping jog. "No runners, eh?" Arthur muttered. He drew a third arrow with instinctive ease and released it, striking the third zombie in the head. "Three down, two more left to go." As the remaining two closed in, he quickly strapped the bow to his back and drew the dirk from his side. Casually weaving past the lunge of the first zombie, he stabbed the dirk into the back of its head. Spinning around in the same motion, his palm opened, and the hidden blade slid out, plunging into the temple of the final zombie.
"Edward Kenway's experience and the boons given by the Hunter pathway gave me an unfair advantage in this situation," Arthur remarked. He cleanly wiped the hidden blade and the dirk on the dead zombie's clothes before retracting the blade back into his sleeve and sheathing the dirk.
Arthur's attention turned to the fenced area, where he noticed a horse. He let out a soft whistle. "Well, hello there, beautiful." The horse was a magnificent Arabian mare, boasting an elegant and refined appearance. Her coat was a glossy, deep black that gleamed under the sunlight, highlighting her graceful, muscular build. She had the classic chiseled head, large expressive eyes, and long, silky mane and tail of her breed.
Arthur whistled again—fweeet—and the horse trotted slowly toward him, as if responding to her true owner's call. She stopped right in front of him, and Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Intelligent one, huh?" He agilely jumped inside the fence and began gently petting her mane. Recognizing her gender, he decided, "So, you're a girl. With your beauty and elegance, let me call you Ravenna from now on." As he brushed her mane, Ravenna responded with a soft neighh. "Shush, girl, we don't want more zombies wandering here," Arthur chuckled, continuing to pet her.
He then hopped onto her back, gently patting her neck to guide her toward a Horse Shed. After dismounting, Arthur scanned the shed and smiled with amusement. 'It seems like the previous owner of this body was a hunter,' he thought as he spotted Ravenna's saddle and a hunting rifle strapped to it.
The rifle was a Springfield Armory Model 2020 Boundary, clearly meant for hunting both small and large game. It was equipped with a suppressor, though Arthur noted that the device only muffled the shot to sound like a door banging or metal clashing. He approached it, unstrapped the rifle, and checked its quality. 'Sadly, I don't have experience shooting a gun, but given that I have Edward's experience along with being a Sequence 9 Hunter, I should be able to adapt pretty quickly,' he mused. Arthur quickly familiarized himself with the weapon, taking out the magazine and calculating: 'Four bullets per magazine plus one in the chamber.' Suddenly, his ears twitched, and he looked sharply in a certain direction.
A smile crossed his lips, and he walked out of the shed with the rifle in hand. He patted Ravenna. "I'll put your saddle on in a while, girl. I still have something to take care of," He then agilely scaled the Horse Shed and stood on top, raising the rifle. Taking a deep breath, he aimed the rifle toward the erratic footsteps he'd heard. Scoping in, his body unconsciously adjusted the rifle and his stance for maximum stability and comfort. A zombie's head popped into the scope's vision near the tree line. Arthur mumbled, "You ugly motherfucker," and pressed the trigger. Poof. The head shattered. He immediately swung to the side and found another zombie. Poof.
"This rifle packs a punch on my shoulder, huh? I nearly forgot that Edward is quite proficient in using guns," he realized as he lowered the weapon. He stared at it. 'Felt satisfying, though. Once again, a Hunter from LOTM is terrifying if put in a normal setting like this. Still, I wonder what world I'm at.'
He dropped back down and went inside. Arthur quickly put the saddle on Ravenna, strapping the rifle and his bow securely to the side of the saddle. He then hopped back onto Ravenna's back, taking the reins. He scratched her neck. "Let's go exploring around the area, girl."
With that, Ravenna began to walk, then trot, and soon settled into a canter. She suddenly slowed down as they arrived at the closed gate of the fenced area. "Oh, sorry, I forgot to open the gate, Ravenna," Arthur said. He hopped off, and Ravenna replied with a soft neighh. Arthur smiled, opened the gate, and led Ravenna outside before closing it again, just in case any more zombies wandered by. Arthur then hopped back on. "Ready to have a small adventure, girl?" as he brushes her mane, to which Ravenna replied with a gentle huff.