History Fanfic / TradeWinds

!This fanfic contains examples of:

* NervousWreck: Laurence's narration in ''Temeraire's'' canon tends to be overdramatic, centered around what people will think of him, and heavy on the catastrophizing, which is visible to Desmond in his stiff manners, and his near-constant harried look, not helped by the fact that Laurence is also dealing with the Chinese trying to separate him from his dragon. Desmond makes it his mission to get Laurence to calm down a bit, and starts by having him try meditation... [[spoiler:which awakens his Eagle Vision and only gets him into more hot water than he already is]]. Laurence, on the other hand, believes himself to be ProperlyParanoid. Although, with all the crap that goes down in Laurence's home series, can you ''really'' blame him?

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: After the ''Allegiance'' leaves Capetown, [[spoiler:Laurence]] calls Desmond to his cabin in the middle of the night drunk and disheveled, unable to sleep because of [[spoiler:the Bleeding Effect]], and terrified that he's losing his mind. Desmond's first thought upon entering the cabin is that [[spoiler:Laurence]] is dying.

* NervousWreck: Laurence's narration in ''Temeraire's'' canon tends to be overdramatic, centered around what people will think of him, and heavy on the catastrophizing, which is visible to Desmond in his stiff manners, and his near-constant harried look, not helped by the fact that Laurence is also dealing with the Chinese trying to separate him from his dragon. Desmond makes it his mission to get Laurence to calm down a bit, and starts by having him try meditation... [[spoiler:which awakens his Eagle Vision and only gets him into more hot water than he already is]]. Laurence, on the other hand, believes himself to be ProperlyParanoid.

* DragonHoard: This fic's version of Eagle Vision, held by all dragons naturally and by a select few humans, comes with an x-ray sense for treasure, an evolution of Eagle Vision that would nonetheless aid a dragon in building a hoard. Temeraire plaintively explains that all the treasure is in houses, though.

'''Warning: all spoilers are unmarked. Proceed with caution.'''

* AsleepForDays: After Desmond kills the sea serpent with a too-high LeapOfFaith and breaks his legs, the ship surgeon doses him with laudanum and he spends three full days drifting in and out of consciousness in a drugged haze.
* AuraVision: Eagle Vision, originating from ''Assassin's Creed'', becomes a major plot point in this story. The Chinese call the ability the Dragon's Eye, and they believe it limited to the Imperial family and dragons, which gets Desmond into hot water when they notice him using it during the Fleur-de-Nuit attack. And then Laurence develops it!
* BlessedWithSuck: Thanks to his two Assassin ancestors, Laurence develops Eagle Vision that manifests to show him his dragon is gravely ill, and which helps him locate the cure. Hooray! However, his manifestation of the ability also makes him TheEmpath, which causes him to immediately pick up on the pain, sickness, and suffering of those around him whenever he turns it on... which he also feels. Oh...

* CunningLinguist: Thanks to his Assassin ancestors, Desmond can understand around ten languages, and well enough to speak most of them. Initially, when he picks up Chinese from Shao Jun, he pretends not to understand it when he's around the Chinese delegation, a ploy which lasts until Desmond blurts something out in perfect courtly Chinese. Whoops. Later on, when they're with the Tswana, Desmond uses his newfound skill with Setswana to give one of the Tswanan dragons information about the slave trade that Laurence refused to offer in canon, and even spills to the dragon that he was going to attack the town himself, taking advantage of the language barrier so none of the Englishmen would know what he was planning. Desmond's skills with Chinese are such that Chapter 10 ends with Laurence extending an offer to Desmond for him to become his personal translator through China.

* TheEmpath: Laurence's Eagle Vision comes with the ability to see others' pain and sickness, likely because it first manifests when Temeraire falls ill.

* FantasticDrug: The mushroom cure used in canon to cure the dragon plague in ''Temeraire'' doubles in this fic as a drug akin to peyote when stewed into a serum, and is given to Laurence and Desmond to enhance their Eagle Vision and place them in contact with their Assassin ancestors.

* GladHesOnOurSide: After Desmond risks his life killing the sea serpent and breaks his legs, his comrades express that they're uneasily glad he's on their side, for how bloodthirsty and insane he comes across as.
* GoodColorsEvilColors: As in the ''Assassin's Creed'' canon, Desmond (and later Laurence) is able to use Eagle Vision to perceive the relationships of others to him, with enemies showing as red, allies as blue, and neutrals as grey. Laurence, notably, constantly shows as gold both to Temeraire and Desmond, and the golden aura is why Temeraire chose him. And after Laurence and Desmond take the mushroom cure on the insistence of the Tswana, they find that their Eagle Vision has been enhanced, and now they see more colors than just blue and red. Granby finds Desmond suspicious, and under Desmond's Eagle Vision shows as a reddish purple.
* HeroicLineage: In addition to Desmond's many and sundry Assassin ancestors, Laurence finds that he has two Assassin ancestors as well (although Desmond doesn't identify them as such to him), who gave him his proclivity for Eagle Vision and originate from AC's canon- Thomas de Carneillon, and Robert Fitzwalter. Fitzwalter in particular is known for being the real-world inspiration of Myth/RobinHood, despite Laurence's parents' insistence that Fitzwalter had done nothing of the sort.

** Courtesy of genetic memory, [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag Edward Kenway's]] memories endow Desmond with the skills and an eye for ships only gained after years at sea. After Laurence is made to see his Assassin ancestors, he immediately becomes fluent in French. Desmond also sees a new ancestor, [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIIILiberation Aveline de Grandpré]] (who is not Desmond's ancestor in canon), and immediately learns Setswana from her mother and starts speaking it with the Tswana, much to Laurence's confusion.
** Desmond notes that Laurence has become rather skilled at using his newfound Eagle Vision relatively quickly- he can turn it on and off at will, and puts it to work for him locating what he needs with ease.
* ISeeDeadPeople: The Bleeding Effect in this fic manifests in the form of Desmond (and eventually Laurence) seeing spectral images of their Assassin ancestors. Desmond sees [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity Arno Dorian]], [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedChronicles Shao Jun]], and, most frequently since he spends most of the story at sea, Edward Kenway. Laurence is quite distressed by the Bleeding Effect and keeps trying to ignore his ancestors, Robert Fitzwalter and Thomas de Carneillon, thinking he's gone mad and is seeing ghosts.
* LeapOfFaith: Desmond executes a leap of faith from the tallest mast on the ''Allegiance'', Captain Riley's sword in hand, to kill the sea serpent. It works and severs the serpent's spinal cord, killing it immediately, and he gets an honor for it, but he breaks his legs in the process.
* NervousWreck: Laurence's narration in ''Temeraire's'' canon tends to be overdramatic, centered around what people will think of him, and heavy on the catastrophizing, which is visible to Desmond in his stiff manners, and his near-constant harried look, not helped by the fact that Laurence is also dealing with the Chinese trying to separate him from his dragon. Desmond makes it his mission to get Laurence to calm down a bit, and starts by having him try meditation... which awakens his Eagle Vision and only gets him into more hot water. Laurence, on the other hand, believes himself to be ProperlyParanoid.

* {{Omniglot}}: Thanks to genetic memories from his ancestors, Desmond can understand (and in most cases speak) several languages, including Arabic, Italian, French, Spanish, Kanien'kéha, and later Chinese, Welsh (although it's implied he can only understand it and can't speak it), and Setswana, courtesy of Shao Jun, Edward Kenway, and Aveline de Grandpré.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: After the ''Allegiance'' leaves Capetown, Laurence calls Desmond to his cabin in the middle of the night drunk and disheveled, unable to sleep because of the Bleeding Effect, and terrified that he's losing his mind. Desmond's first thought upon entering the cabin is that Laurence is dying.
* SamusIsAGirl: When Desmond meets Emily Roland, he's surprised to find she's a girl under her little jacket and trousers. He tries asking her for her name, and she just says, "Roland."
* TheStationsOfTheCanon: The ''Temeraire'' side of the story proceeds mostly as it does in canon until the start of ''Throne of Jade'', when Desmond joins the crew of the ''Allegiance''. From there, the Chinese begin dividing their attention between Desmond and Laurence. One major station of the canon is apparently skipped once Temeraire falls ill- by that point, Desmond has been tutoring Laurence in developing Eagle Vision, and Laurence realizes the gravity of Temeraire's illness with his budding Eagle Vision enough to go searching for the cure, have it gathered en masse, and sent back to England two books early. In the process, they make good relations with the Tswana (as opposed to the somewhat poor relations in ''Temeraire[='=]s'' canon) and Desmond gives a Tswanan dragon information about the slave trade that convinces her to attack Capetown, suggesting that the broad events of ''Empire of Ivory'' (and subsequently the introduction of Demane and Sipho, and [[spoiler:Laurence's treason]]) might not occur in this story, or might at least happen under different circumstances.

* TheStationsOfTheCanon: The ''Temeraire'' side of the story proceeds mostly as it does in canon until the start of ''Throne of Jade'', when Desmond joins the crew of the ''Allegiance''. From there, the Chinese begin dividing their attention between Desmond and Laurence. One major station of the canon is apparently skipped once Temeraire falls ill- by that point, Desmond has been tutoring Laurence in developing Eagle Vision, and Laurence realizes the gravity of Temeraire's illness with his budding Eagle Vision enough to go searching for the cure, have it gathered en masse, and sent back to England two books early. In the process, they make good relations with the Tswana (as opposed to the somewhat poor relations in ''Temeraire[='=]s'' canon) and Desmond gives a Tswanan dragon information about the slave trade that convinces her to attack Capetown, suggesting that the broad events of ''Empire of Ivory'' (and subsequently the introduction of Demane and Sipho, and [[spoiler:Laurence's treason]]) might not occur in this story, or might at least happen under different circumstances.

* TheStationsOfTheCanon: The ''Temeraire'' side of the story proceeds mostly as it does in canon until the start of ''Throne of Jade'', when Desmond joins the crew of the ''Allegiance''. From there, the Chinese begin dividing their attention between Desmond and Laurence. One major station of the canon is apparently skipped once Temeraire falls ill- by that point, Desmond has been tutoring Laurence in developing Eagle Vision, and Laurence realizes the gravity of Temeraire's illness with his budding Eagle Vision enough to go searching for the cure, have it gathered en masse, and sent back to England two books early. In the process, they make good relations with the Tswana (as opposed to the somewhat poor relations in ''Temeraire[='=]s'' canon) and Desmond gives a Tswanan dragon information about the slave trade that convinces her to attack Capetown, suggesting that the broad events of ''Empire of Ivory'' (and subsequently the introduction of Demane and Sipho, and [[spoiler:Laurence's treason]]) might not occur in this story.

* {{Omniglot}}: Thanks to genetic memories from his ancestors, Desmond can understand (and in most cases speak) several languages, including Arabic, Italian, French, Spanish, Kanienʼkéha, and later Chinese, Welsh (although it's implied he can only understand it and can't speak it), and Setswana, courtesy of Shao Jun, Edward Kenway, and Aveline de Grandpré.

-->'''Desmond:''' "Honestly, has all the fretting you do constantly ever made '''anything''' better?"

* NervousWreck: Laurence's narration in ''Temeraire's'' canon tends to be overdramatic, centered around what people will think of him, and heavy on the catastrophizing, which is visible to Desmond in his stiff manners, and his near-constant harried look, not helped by the fact that Laurence is also dealing with the Chinese trying to separate him from his dragon. Desmond makes it his mission to get Laurence to calm down a bit, and starts by having him try meditation... which awakens his Eagle Vision and only gets him into more hot water.

* NervousWreck: Laurence's narration in ''Temeraire's'' canon tends to be overdramatic, centered around what people will think of him, and catastrophizing, which Desmond sees as nerves. He takes to having Laurence try meditation in an attempt at getting him to calm the fuck down, and also awaken his Eagle Vision.

* OffTheRails: The ''Temeraire'' side of the story proceeds mostly as it does in canon until the start of ''Throne of Jade'', when Desmond joins the crew of the ''Allegiance''. From there, the Chinese begin dividing their attention between Desmond and Laurence. It goes completely off the rails once Temeraire falls ill- by that point, Desmond has been tutoring Laurence in developing Eagle Vision, and Laurence realizes the gravity of Temeraire's illness with his budding Eagle Vision enough to go searching for the cure, have it gathered en masse, and sent back to England two books early. In the process, they make good relations with the Tswana (as opposed to the somewhat poor relations in ''Temeraire[='=]s'' canon) and Desmond gives a Tswanan dragon information about the slave trade that convinces her to attack Capetown, suggesting that the precise events of ''Empire of Ivory'' (and subsequently the introduction of Demane and Sipho) might not occur in this story.

* {{Omniglot}}: Thanks to genetic memories from his ancestors, Desmond can understand (and in most cases speak) several languages, including Arabic, Italian, French, Spanish, Kanienʼkéha, and later Chinese, Welsh, and Setswana, courtesy of Shao Jun, Edward Kenway, and Aveline de Grandpré.