It started out just another day, I went walking down town, bought a bit of food, talked with some people and looked at new weapons. I really have no idea what changed that made me be in the position I am right now. Where is that you might ask, well I just happen to be in the middle of Damascus with about the entire royal guard after me, give or take a few guards. Now here I am, running for my life and contemplating what kind of food will I get in prison. Not that I have any intention of going there, but a mind does tend to wander when it's in peril. Well mine does anyways. Regardless I continued running and dodging thanking my lucky stars that I was in great shape and not weighed down with any armor or weapons minus my greaves, which were a gift of my deceased father, and my dagger, which I tore from my deceased fathers body and killed the soldier responsible for deceasing him with it. Anyways my luck was really with me because I managed to elude them and hide for a few minutes. I climbed a ladder that I found and made my way to the roof of a building. There's nothing wrong with being on a roof, especially not in 1456. Seriously, the only reason it was illegal was because of the infamous assassin Altair who ended up killing all the important people in this city and her sister city of Jerusalem, not to mention Acre and Masyaf. He really was cold blooded, and the funniest thing happened after that, he disappeared. Just like that he was gone and we were allowed to get onto the roofs again. Although being an orphan and a rebel I always went on the roofs anyways just in spite of the soldiers. And because of that I knew the roofs of this city just as well as the streets.
"Hey you, you're not allowed to be up here" I turned around looking for the voice and I see an archer with his bow drawn taught ten feet away aimed at my face. "Get off this roof right now and I'll pretend that I never saw you." To be honest I was a little shocked and not a little bit surprised to be threatened by a soldier and especially because I was on a roof.
"What the hell man, it's a roof! Its neutral territory, I can be on here if I want to!" Without any warning he fired at me luckily just above my left shoulder. I freaked "hey man what's with this hostility? What did I ever do to you?"
"I told you to get off the roof. Now get off the roof!" I realized he was serious when he yanked out another arrow, knocked it and aimed right at my heart and yelled "right now". With that I started backing up, I turned slightly and just in time too. Something went flying past my head and I felt the wind as it passed. I heard a grunt and then a body fall, I looked back at the archer and saw him on his face with blood pooling from underneath him. Fearing an attack from the mysterious knife thrower I did what I always do; jumped sideways, rolled and came up looking for danger. But there was no one there, no one at all.
"Oi you," Oh this is just great I thought, another guard coming after me. I'd had enough of this I turned and ran, ran across the roof and jumped the gap to the next house and continued running even though the guard kept on yelling something at me I didn't regard him and just kept running. I jumped down onto a pile of boxes that were in an alley and then onto the ground. I kept running without looking back, I knew I had lost him a long time ago but I decided to keep running, it seemed to clear my head and gave me something to do without thinking about anything. I didn't stop for anything not the strange looks that were directed at me and then gone in an instant, not the shouts and protests that I didn't actually hear, I just kept running until I made it absolutely no where. And it was only then that I realized, I was not allowed to be here. This was the only part of Damascus that was deemed off limits to civilians and I was smack dab in the middle of it. I stopped running and decided to take a look around. Ok I know that wasn't smart but hey, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I decided to utilize it. That was my first mistake; my second mistake was not realizing that I was being watched by no less than ten royal guards before they spoke to me. Yes I said royal guards; I was in the middle of palace grounds. Not a place you want to find yourself at the best of times.
"Civilians are not allowed here" I whipped around and stared in horror at the heavily armed soldiers with their gleaming weapons and long pikes. I couldn't believe it; my luck had turned on me and in the course of twenty minutes went from being chased by soldiers to shot at by soldiers to being surrounded by soldiers. The captain (I think he's the captain anyways) spoke again. "Civilians aren't allowed here."
I swallowed heavily "Yes sir, terribly sorry sir, I will leave right now sir" I swallowed again.
"Leave? I think not street rat. You are going to the dungeons today." He grabbed my arm and I struggled in vain to try and get out.
"Please sir" I begged "please, Let me go it'll never happen again I swear it won't!" I begged upon deaf ears for he said nothing else just continued to squeeze my arm and drag me towards the castle. I will say that I felt pretty hopeless, but that was before I saw him drop from the sky directly in front of my captor. Who was he you might ask, well I was asking myself the same question all I can say was that he landed gracefully. He was wearing a white cape that flowed around him, he wore his hood up and only his mouth was visible. He wore a sword on his left side, a short dagger on his right and what looked like a dirk on his back. He had multiple throwing knives all across his person and I noticed that one was missing. I thought that maybe this might have been my earlier savior as well but I didn't contemplate that long as he began to speak. His voice held malice and anger which were both directed, quite clearly, at the soldier.
"Let the boy go!"
"No. He was caught trespassing on His Majesty's estate, just like you. Looks like you'll be coming with me too." The captain looked at his men and nodded and two soldiers walked forward to restrain this stranger. I saw him grin and thought him a bit queer. What man smiles when he's about to go to prison. Shortly thereafter I realized that he had everything under control as he started causing mayhem and destruction. The second one of the soldiers put his arm on the strangers shoulder the stranger started moving. He ducked his head and spun right dislodging the arresting hand, as he spun he brought up his left hand and rammed it palm open into the guards neck, blood squirted everywhere and I watched in horrid fascination as the soldier slumped to the ground still bleeding profusely. The captain swore and let go of me, I guess figuring that the stranger was more of a threat than I was, and jumped in the fray. The stranger jumped back, pulled out his dirk and leapt forward at the second soldier who had recovered from his shock and had drawn his own sword waiting for an attack which came much too fast for him. The stranger knocked the sword away and drove his blade into the chest of the soldier twice before letting him to drop to the ground and finally turning on the captain who lowered his pike and jabbed. I thought the stranger was finished but he moved with an agility I was instantly jealous of spinning left and grabbing the pike trying to dislodge it from the captains hands, but to no avail, the captain held on with grim determination even managing to yank it back from the strangers hands. He lunged again and the stranger had to back step to evade and try and attack. Finally an opening appeared and the stranger threw caution to the wind and launched himself forward in a desperate move which just happened to work. The captain, thrown off balance, dropped his pike and tried to punch his assailant but to no avail, the stranger blocked the punch and sent his left hand into this man's throat as well and left him gurgling his last few breaths as he laid him on the ground in a serene way closely regarding that of a passing friend, which I thought completely strange and backwards to what he just finished doing. The stranger took his left hand from the dead captains neck and I saw for the first time how he had managed to kill him with just his hand, there, covered in blood, was a knife of some sort which suddenly disappeared with a "shhhkkk" sound and I realized for the first time I was alone with this crazy killer and a thought suddenly came to me which I hadn't thought of before, he had told the captain to let me go. What does this stranger want with me?