I'm so glad Ubisoft gave Connor a family in the Reflections comic. ;A; I'd love to write more about her - especially as a potential assassin?
Seek Your Symbol
In her dream, Io:nhiòte soared like an eagle.
She flew over the forest surrounding her village. Far below, she could see her brother and sister watching her. She tried to wave at them as she swept past, but she looked to her sides and realized that her arms were wings.
She was an eagle.
It was a warm and sunny afternoon – a jarring contrast from the unusually snowy winter that had fallen over them in the last few months. In this dream she could see a herd of spring-fattened deer grazing in a field. Just the sight of them made her mouth water.
Something moved in the corner of her vision. She lifted her head and saw another eagle alight beside her.
Greetings, Io:nhiòte.
The eagle's beak never moved, but Io:nhiòte could hear a woman's voice in her head. It startled her so badly that she nearly fell from the sky.
Who are you? she asked – thought. She wondered if her words would even reach the other bird.
The eagle suddenly pulled ahead of her and dove into the trees.
Follow me, she beckoned.
Io:nhiòte did, even though she felt there was something very strange – very suspicious – about the bird with a woman's strong voice. It jerked her forward, making her feel very much like a puppet on a string.
You are a child with a powerful legacy, the woman told her. She wove easily between the tree trunks. You should begin your training soon.
What do you mean?
You can see and sense things that others do not. Your father is teaching you how to harness that gift, is he not?
That was true; just yesterday, her father took her out to hunt again. She was supposed to track rabbits, though they were difficult to find in the snow. She wound up using her vision to see them through the eyes of a bird.
Yes, he is.
The other eagle swept her high above the trees again. A symbol floated there amongst the clouds. Something about it was familiar... It resembled an English letter. A.
Do you recognize this symbol? the eagle asked. It led Io:nhiòte straight through the image, which burst into a thousand pieces when they touched it.
No.
Memorize it, child. It will be a beacon for you one day.
And then the eagle was gone. Io:nhiòte struggled to catch up, but her wings were so tired... She flapped harder, harder, until she realized she was sinking back down to the earth-
She suddenly woke in her family's longhouse to the smell of breakfast cooking. Her brother and sister were already gone, but she could see her father outside, tending the fire.
"Are you okay, Io:nhiòte?" he asked when he saw her stirring from her bed. "You were restless. Did you dream?"
"I think so. It was strange," she said. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she joined him at the fireside.
"What happened?"
"I was an eagle. I was flying over the village and the forest."
"Like when you use your vision?"
She shook her head. "No, Rake:ni, I was the eagle. Another one came up beside me and spoke."
"Ah. What did it say?"
"It sounded like a woman's voice. She said I came from a powerful legacy. And she showed me a picture of something. Um... Here."
She grabbed a twig and started scratching the image into the dirt. Her father watched at first with curiosity – and then concern.
"Where did you see that?" he asked. His voice was low, almost fearful - Io:nhiòte had never heard him like that before. He was always so calm, so confident. A shiver ran up her spine.
"The eagle showed it to me."
"The woman?"
"No. It was an eagle with a woman's voice."
He nodded slowly, heavy brows furrowed. Something in his eyes looked so sad, it hurt Io:nhiòte to look at him. She turned away, back to the symbol she'd scratched into the dirt.
"That symbol, it's..."
Her father stopped. He opened his mouth again and let out a sigh.
"It is something you are not ready for. Something I was hoping you would never have to see."
"What does it mean?"
"It belongs to an ancient brotherhood. An order," he told her. He reached forward and rubbed the scratching out with the heel of his hand. "Do not speak of this to your mother or siblings."
"But Mother is already okay with me going on these hunts with you... She would understand this too, right?"
Her father's expression only grew sadder. He looked away from his daughter, into the fire.
"She knows what it means. I will discuss it with her later, when the time is right. Until then, this is between the two of us."
"Yes, Rake:ni."
"What else did the woman... The eagle tell you?"
"To memorize the symbol. It will be a beacon one day." Io:nhiòte frowned. "I was not sure what she meant by that."
Her father reached over and pulled her close. Io:nhiòte's misgivings disappeared as soon as his arm was wrapped safely around her body. There was nothing for her to be worried about so long as her father was with her. Everything would be okay.
"We will go hunting again today. I want to teach you how to use your vision," he said.
"But I already know how."
He smiled at her. "I know you do. But I will show you how to hone it. Especially now that...this has happened."
Her father motioned to the rubbed-out drawing with a jerk of his chin.
Io:nhiòte almost asked him if she should be afraid. Her suspicion of the woman hadn't gone away; if anything, it had grown since she'd seen her father's reaction to the symbol and her dream.
But she looked up at her father, who was gazing down at her with nothing but love in his eyes.
Yes. She would be safe as long as she was with him.
She had absolutely nothing to worry about.