The festivities were filled with laughter, smiles, and young children running through the streets as they too, spread the joy. It was July 14th, 2013, and the citizens of France were celebrating their independence with some of the most elaborate and fantastic festivities ever seen in Paris. Though, she had seen better elsewhere, a girl thought slyly, remembering some of the absolutely insane parties she had gone to before accepting her true destiny, and becoming what Fate had made her to be.
However, this particular girl was not in the square, celebrating with her people as she had for years before. To be brutally honest, she was running for her life, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as several soldiers shot at her. She just needed to make it to the alley off of Oceanus Avenue, two blocks away. If she made it there, she would lose them in hedge maze that never stayed the same.
Only someone who had grown up around the maze, and constantly traveled through it would be able to navigate it with the skills she had. It was the fifty-fourth day of the cycle, and she knew that there was an opening in the avenue that would close up in seven minutes and sixteen seconds. She had run the distance she needed to travel in less time, but she would need every precious second with these special ops forces on her ass. Honestly, she thought that Le Président de la République française wasn't coming until late that night, so unless she was wrong, and she never was, they were sending soldiers out for no good reason, other than to make them sweaty and waste perfectly good ammunition shooting at her!
But with her being all too aware of the danger these men posed to her well-being, and the protection of the Order, she was forced to keep her mouth shut, stop whining, and run, losing them in the maze. As long as she didn't get shot, she'd be okay.
Six minutes.
Swearing, the girl ducked behind a chimney, sticking her head out to peer around the edge just ever so carefully. Bullets struck the bricks right by her head, chipping the roasted clay blocks, and letting the pieces fall to the ground. Deciding to escape with clever behavior rather than let her ego get the better of her, she looked behind her shoulder at the clothesline. She took her chances, sprinting for the thin rope and cutting it, her heart beating rapidly as she swung across the filthy river, letting go of the twine without hesitation, not worried about how dirty she would get. She had been soaked in the blood of several people, her white robes dyed entirely dark red one time.
The water was still, and the soldiers ran across the bridge, thinking that she had gone all the way across. After all, no one in their right mind would jump in the river. Then again, she was considered to be crazy by her comrades, and they all jumped in rivers just as filthy as this, so this wasn't exactly abnormal behavior for her. Scotty had input his unwelcome two cents. "You're a talent, girl. How did you learn to piss people off like that?" He had asked sarcastically, and all his friends had laughed at he only girl in their group of friends.
She had snorted, and waved his comment off, knowing it wasn't exactly a secret that she didn't really give two shits about the consequences, and just spoke her mind, which usually got her in trouble. When she was sure the guards were far enough away, a white hood slowly began coming out of the water as she walked toward the bank by the sewer entrance.
Five minutes.
As soon as she had rung out her hair of the water, and clamped it into a messy bun, the young girl ducked her head a split second before a bullet grazed the side of her face, painfully tearing the skin on her face open before it embedded itself in the wall behind her. That had hurt more than she would care to admit, and the burning streak of pain across her face was already beginning to bleed.
Jumping up, she barely managed to grab the edge of the ground above, hoisting herself up with no effort and jumping on the fence that prevented innocent civilians from accidentally falling into the filthy water below. Crouching, she moved quickly along the beam without faltering once as she retained her balance. They wouldn't dare shoot once she got into the crowd of civilians she would disappear in.
Standing up fully and jumping off the thin bar, she somersaulted before getting back on her feet again, and burst into a full out sprint with one destination in mind. If she got into the tavern across the square, she'd be able to climb up the three flights of stairs, jump out the farthest window at the end of the hallway of the rooms, and get back on the rooftops.
Four minutes.
The large crowd of bystanders watched in astonishment as she shoved her way through the mass of people in her way, rushing across the square. The gunfire had ceased, and all she needed to do was successfully lose her pursuers as she ran across the rooftops. She was so engrossed in avoiding the soldiers that the memory of tripping on a particular stone every time she made a beeline for her escape through this square evaded her mind.
Just as it always had, her foot caught itself in the jagged stone edge that stuck up out of the ground, and with an exclamation that wouldn't have been found in any PG movies, she hit the ground with a painful thud and a loud pop that made everyone around her flinch. She had just, rather painfully in all honesty, set her back into place, with one solid snap. Writhing in pain and mouth opened wide in a silent scream of pain, she rolled over onto her back to see how close the soldiers were.
When she saw one just a few feet behind the ring of people that stood around her, she instantly pushed herself up and continued her sprint, dodging hands that reached out to grab her or yank her hood off.
It was no secret that if you caught a hooded figure running amuck in France, you would be handsomely rewarded by Le Président quite handsomely. Silently cursing the fact that as of right now, there was a Templar leader of France, she ran her way through the open door, jumping over tables and hurrying past the bartender, briefly greeting him before darting into the stairwell.
Three minutes.
She was relying solely on her memory at this point, instantly going left and taking a right down another hall, and looking through the open window that she kept her gaze fixed on. The curtains were torn, bloody, and matted from the numerous times she'd jumped through that window, so the landlord kept them tied back to not replace them. Good old Paris... always looking for more ways to keep money for yourself and scam everyone else on the way.
She jumped through with a practiced dive, tumbling down the roof as soon as she'd made it safely through. Unfortunately, she hadn't done this in awhile, meaning she hadn't done her calculations as well as she had when she had always ran from the guards because they caught her stealing cheese, apples, and food in general when she lived on the streets. When she stopped rolling down the rooftop, and reached for the metal beam that hung between the two lowest parts of the rooftops, she realized too late that her mental math had been way off, and she swung her entire body to barely grip onto the edge of the makeshift bridge.
The thick, heavy, metal beams groaned and whined under its newfound weight, and she knew that it was only a matter of time before they collapsed. Fearfully, she reached one hand over and gripped the beam further along the path. Dangling some forty-feet above the ground was incredibly dangerous, especially when you had pursuers who wanted to shoot you.
Two Minutes.
Her right hand followed her left, and she grunted as she kept herself up with only one hand, even if it was for just a breif moment. Her left reached out again, and she gasped when she missed, instantly flinging her arm to wrap it around. She wasn't afraid of being shot at, that was part of her work, but heights were her mortal enemy, something she had been afraid of ever since she could remember. If you slipped, you fell. And if you fell, you couldn't stop. And if you couldn't stop, you hit the ground. And if you hit the ground, you died.
It was really that simple; that terrifying.
It was that fear, flowing through her entire being, that drove the trembling, struggling female to put one gloved hand in front of the other, finally swinging her body weight to catch both of her feet on the edge of the rooftop, pushing herself up with great caution. Her arms flailed as she struggled not to fall backwards, leaning as far forward as she could. Stumbling forward with a painful "Oomph," she regained her balance and began running again, certain that her escape was now imminent.
It truly was unfortunate that she wasn't known for planning ahead in case of any disruptions in her plan. In all honesty, her plans weren't always the most solid, and though she was usually able to pull tricks out of the back of her mind, she honestly felt like she was stumbling and falling as she went about her business.
One Minute.
Her thick, leather boots which had seemed practical and useful when running from gunfire, felt like they were slowing her down, though they truly didn't weigh much at all. Her weapons seemed to rattle too loudly, and her pistol's constant smacking of her outer thigh made her feel like the entire army could hear her and was hot on her tail.
Blood rushed through her ears, and she yelped when some one from above fell, clad in dark blue robes. They pushed her, and she seemed to understand what they were trying to say. The garden was a block and a half away, but she had almost no time to get there after her screw ups. Breathing deeply, she ignored her screaming lungs and burst into a sprint, the figure clad in blue behind her with apparent ease. She had been running for almost an hour now, and as much as it killed her to admit it, she didn't have the stamina Scott had, and it just wasn't working out for her. She was a sprinter, not a distance runner.
But now her limits would be tested, because she was racing the clock.
40 seconds.
Her limbs ached, and she felt as if she would pass out. Dizzy and lightheaded, she pushed herself harder, knowing that she would be able to stop as soon as she was safe, but she had to make it in enough time first. Her companion leaped over the gap between the buildings, passing her, and irritating the proud fighter. She leaped after them, and soon found herself ahead once more; she would not give up her lead this time.
20 seconds.
She could see the place she was going to duck in, it wasn't too far now, just two buildings over from where she was now. She leaped over an alley again, and looked for her usual way down into the alleyway, hoping to see no guards.
15 seconds.
There weren't any, but her close friend waited, their blue robes blowing in the wind as they stood in the entrance, motioning for her to come along.
10 seconds.
She ran down the long alley, and the hedge began to seal once more, the shrubbery sliding to close the entrance.
5 seconds.
She wasn't going to make it in time.
4 seconds.
She was too slow, wearing too many heavy things.
3 seconds.
Her friend's terrified blue eyes looked at her from underneath her hood, and she tried to hold to the door from shutting to no avail.
2 seconds.
She was a yard away, the hedge was closing, but she needed to make it, else be captured and killed by the military forces hot on her trail.
1 second.
She didn't think, she didn't have time to. She jumped, feeling the hedge's leaves scratch at her fabric covered legal, and trying to catch on her shoe laces.
She hit the ground and somersaulted until she managed to get back on her feet, and look at the dark blue robed, but now hoodless girl behind her.
"Cutting it a bit close," She said slyly, though the smile on her friend's scratched up, grass stained face didn't diminish. "You really are crazy."