One- Jerusalem

~Afya~

I grabbed onto one of his arms, my grey eyes peering through the shadow of my hood. "He is an innocent, Altair! There must be another way!" The words came out almost desperate, making me frown slightly, but Malik was nodding in agreement from behind me. Kadar, however, thought that Altair was a saint- the boy didn't know any better. Altair was only human- an arrogant, selfish, and stuck up one at that. Many of the assassins hated him for his arrogance, and I was beginning to as well. His eyes were flashing at me in annoyance, and he promptly shrugged me off. He quietly stalked foreward, a hand covering the old man's mouth at the same time the hidden blade slid into his neck. We all paid a price for the hidden blade- one ring finger. I watched, saddened, as the innocent fell to his knees and then onto his front. The poor man was dead before he hit the floor of the tunnel. Altair didn't spare the man a second look, already starting to move on.

"I'm going to scout ahead…" Malik announced with a sigh, trotting past the arrogant assassin. To get away from Altair, I followed.

"I've finally decided."

The man glanced back at me in confusion. "Decided what?"

"Altair is an ass who needs to have the arrogance beaten out of him. I am beginning to hate him." My hand went up to stop Malik's next words. "Yes, I do understand that you still believe that there is good in him, but I am not going to believe it until I see it. He has already broken one tenet of our Creed, Malik! Who says he will not break the others? I will be informing the Master of his wrong doings upon our return. He is aware that I do not lie." Malik remained silent after my words faded into silence, likely pondering a way to stop me. We paused at a ladder so the other two could catch up. "Does Kadar know what our mission is?"

"No."

Kadar and Altair were taking their sweet time. If we failed the mission because of him, I'd kill him- master assassin or no. "He does now. Altair doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut." I mumbled lowly, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice. Judging by the smile Malik was fighting, I failed to do so. "Ass is too nice for him, actually." A small, almost nonexistent half smile appeared on Malik's face. I heard Altair and Kadar finally walk up behind us.

"Too nice for whom?" Kadar asked curiously, his light blue eyes peeking out just below the rim of his hood. So they'd heard me. Damn. Well, I might as well have fun with it.

"Altair." I responded sweetly, my voice dripping with venom and a smirk on my lips. When I saw Altair's expression, thought, I bolted up the ladder after Malik, knowing that I was going to pay for that one. Randomly, I found myself admiring the quality of the wood as I climbed. It was old and smooth, made a wood I didn't recognize. The sound of Altair cursing me under his breath reached my ears, causing my smirk to widen. The day was actually going well, minus the dead innocent. A full night of sleep and succeeding the mission would top it all off. Malik paused above me, peeking above at the next level. He gave me a few hand signals, and I flipped to hang upside-down, my knees locked on a rung of the ladder. My head was now level with Altair's.

"One guard. Malik says he can take him." I went back upright when Altair nodded and I tapped Malik's leg, signaling that he was given the right to strike. He disappeared up the rest of the ladder. A few moments later, I heard the muted thud of a body hitting the ground and I climbed up to see the dead guard. The man seemed middle-aged; most like had a family, too. My intuition flared, giving me a sound the alarm- a throwing knife suddenly appeared in his throat, cutting off the beginnings of a yell. He gurgled as blood filled his breathing passages, sinking to his knees and scrambling to pull the knife out. Then he fell onto his face, pushing the throwing knife in even deeper. The three males stared for a moment in surprise before moving on. They hadn't sensed him, which was odd. Maybe my intuition was stronger. I followed them in silence, collecting my throwing knife along the way.

"Is that the Ark?" Malik asked in a hushed whisper of awe, his eyes wide as he gazed at a golden chest high above on a platform. We were currently on what had seemed to be the beginning of a grand staircase, the way down a long, painful drop or the ladder to our left.

"The Ark of the Covenant?" Kadar and I questioned at the same time, mouths open slightly in amazement. Then we stared at each other, startled at how in synch that had been.

"Of course not." Altair chided. "It's just a story." I could tell he wasn't so sure himself, staring up at it in what seemed to be awe. Our gazed snapped down and we sank into crouches as the sound of clanking metal reached out highly-sensitive ears. A few moments passed as the clanking grew louder. Finally a few Templar Knights entered, along with a man wearing the cape that identified him as the Templar Grandmaster.

"I want us out of here by sunrise." He snapped, his prominent French accent carrying through the chamber. "The sooner we possess it, the sooner we can turn our attention to those jackals at Masyaf!"

"Robert." Altair hissed from beside me. "His life is mine."

"No!" Malik and I glared at him, but Malik was the one who continued. "Our orders were to obtain the treasure and deal with Robert only if necessary!"

"He stands between us and it. I deem it necessary."

"Discretion, Altair!" I snapped, fists clenching. "You have already broken one of the tenets- are you truly going to disregard the others?"

"My way is better." He snarled in return, starting down the ladder. The two brothers followed, throwing glances my way when I didn't follow. My frown told them enough, I suppose. I was only back up, to be honest. None of them could match my speed nor grace in battle, though they were always stronger. The roofs of houses were where you could normally find me, picking off the extra soldiers with my well aimed throwing knives. As if remembering, I jolted upright so I could aim properly, my throwing knives slipping into my hands. I watched, silent, as the three white robbed figures walked towards the Templars, whose swords were quickly drawn. Well, there goes the rest of the creed. I thought with distaste, frown deepening.

"Hold, Templars." How arrogant could that man get? "You are not the only ones with business here." The two brothers fanned out behind him, silent. Kadar was nervous, fidgeting under his robes. Malik was disapproving; I could tell by the set of his shoulders. The two leaders sized each other up before Altair moved to draw his sword, slipping out his hidden blade when he thought Robert's attention was on his sword. There was an unconcerned smile on Robert's face that made me nervous and twitchy- somebody was going to die today, but it wasn't going to be the Templar Grandmaster.

"And what is it that you seek?" Robert asked, his posture relaxed as though speaking to an old friend about something trivial. I was already moving, sliding down the ladder and running for Altair.

"Blood." He replied, lunging forward.

"Altair, no!" Malik and I shouted, me stumbling to a stop as Malik barely missed Altair's arm in an effort to stop him. Robert stopped the assassin mid strike- making Altair look like a small and weak child.

"You know not the things in which you meddle, Assassin. I spare you only that you may return to your Master and deliver a message; that the Holy Land is lost to him and his. He should flee now, while he has a chance. Stay and all of you will die."

Altair was fighting for breath now, but Robert threw him at the wall at the back of the room with ease, making it collapse. He was locked out and we had no chance against them all- especially Robert.

"Men! To arms! Kill the assassins!" The men came at us in a wave and I backed up into Malik, who drew his sword and tossed me his short black. I understood the message well enough; protect Kadar. The poor novice was staring up at two Templar soldiers who were three heads taller and had more experience. He was shaking in his boots from fear. This was his first mission- a failure, no less. With a snarl, I darted in front of him, making the soldiers stare in surprise for a few moments. I let out a battle cry and darter forward, raising the short blade. One of the soldiers took the bait, raising his sword to block my strike. It was a feint, however, so I ducked under his sword and past his guard, slipping my hidden blade into his gut. He fell to the ground with a thud, dead.

Kadar cried out behind me and I spun around. The other guard had gone after the novice as I went for the first Templar. My eyes narrowed and my vision flashed red as Kadar fell, unconscious, to the ground, a blade above him in preparation to finish him off. A short blade appeared through his chest, sending a spurt of blood everywhere. I kicked him off of Malik's blade and to the side, then crouched down by the still unconscious novice. Crack. His head snapped to the side as my palm made contact with his cheek, causing him to groan and me to give him another slap on the other side of his face. He stirred, then his eyes opened and he blearily blinked up at me, causing a sigh of relief to leave my lips. It was easy for the boy to stand, and I turned to the battle going on a mere fifteen feet away.

Malik was fighting Robert, most of the other soldiers on the ground at their feet, but some surrounding them. One of them had gotten a blow in, cutting Malik's shoulder and rendering it useless. Luckily he was good at swordplay with both arms. The assassin was growing tired, his blocks more clumsy and his attacks frantic. A gasp escaped Kadar and I darted forward as Robert moved in for the finishing blow.

CLANG!

My borrowed short blade intercepted Robert's. The force he put behind the swing cause me to stumble back into Malik's chest; he caught me and Robert stepped back, actually looking surprised. His surprise turned into rage at being deprived of his kill. The guards surrounding us shifted slightly.

"Kadar, get the treasure! Malik, protect his back!" I ordered swiftly, switching the short blade to one hand and pulling out a throwing knife. "My life does not matter; the treasure is our target."

He hesitated, then nodded and ran towards the wall below the treasure, Kadar already climbing up. The guards followed them, but I blocked Robert. A snarl crossed the Templar's face and he backed up slightly, putting his guard up and watching me warily. My lack of arrogance was probably noted and stored somewhere in that head of his, though his still tried to circle around me and brush me off. His full concentration wasn't even on me- he only cared for the apple and I was a small annoyance in his way.

That was going to be his downfall.

The sound of metal hitting and scrapping against metal made me grimace slightly, but I moved to hit him again. Now his attention was mostly on me. Good. A small smile crossed my face as I turned our fight into a dance, trying my best to extend the fight so the brothers could escape. However, sweat was beginning to coat my body, causing me to re-grip the short blade every few moments. My arms were shaking slightly from the effort of blocking his blows and fatigue was becoming my main enemy as my many sleepless nights caught up to me.

"I have the apple!"

The cry interrupted my concentrations and I stumbled slightly as I blocked one of Robert's blows, leaving myself open. Robert managed to connect a blow, hitting my chest. The blow knocked me onto my back as the air rushed out of my lungs, black dots swimming in my vision. My hood had fallen as well, revealing my face and the fact that I was female. He stared, shocked, as I slowly stood, swaying back and forth, and carefully pulling my hood back up. Kadar grabbed my arm and started dragging me away towards the ladders, where Malik was waiting. We all hurried up it, Robert running down a side hall for his army. While fleeing, I wondered idly about what would have happened if I hadn't been there to protect Kadar and block Robert- and if Altair would've been so arrogant in the first place…