KEY:
Correggere: correct
Innamorato: sweetheart
Mio amico: my friend
i miei amici: my friends
Si: yes
Con cautela i miei amici: With caution my friends
Mio dio: my god
Molto bene, molto bene: Very good, very good.
"Come on, Ezio! You can do it! You're almost there!" Cheered Fausto and Ottavio, leaning over the edge of the building and watching with glee as Ezio doggedly drug himself up the wall, his claws digging in and letting him cling to the wall. He had just a few more feet and then he was done with climbing. From there it was all freerunning. "Come on, Ezio! Just a little more!" Growling and panting, Ezio pinned his ears back and pulled himself the rest of the way up onto the roof, tail wagging happily once he was over. "Woohoo! Good job Ezio!" The two assassins smothered him with pets and treats, throwing in random praise as well.
Hopping up to his feet, Fausto looked around and picked an easy course of relatively low roofs and simple jumps. "Alright Ezio! It's just like one of those courses we had you do before except if you don't make the jump you hit the ground and it hurts instead. So don't miss the jumps." Grinning and giving the growing puppy one more scratch behind the ears, Fausto took off across the rooftops with Ottavio. Both of them grinned from ear to ear as they looked back over their shoulders and saw Ezio racing after them, a little black blur leaping and dashing with wagging tail and perked ears. "Good job Ezio!" Yelled Ottavio, the puppy barking in response.
"Guards ahead. You want the one on the right?" Asked Fausto, Ottavio turning back around and glancing at the guards. "Sure!" Splitting off to kill their respective rooftop guards, neither of them saw Ezio stop and watch as they leapt onto the guards' backs and rammed them into the ground. From where he was he couldn't see any blades but the sudden fresh scent of blood let him know that the guards had been killed. And the sound of someone clumsy climbing up the wall let him know that there was another guard on the way.
Dropping his head and raising his hackles, Ezio bared his teeth with a low growl and waited until the guard was on top of the roof and heading towards him - Fausto and Ottavio had ducked behind boxes and other things when the saw him preparing to attack - before taking off at a dead run and crashing into the guards chest. Before they hit the ground, Ezio clamped his jaws shut around the mans neck and yanked his head from side to side, effectively shredding the mans throat.
He hopped off the corpse with a wagging tail and barked once to say that the coast was clear. Fausto and Ottavio laughed as they ran up, once more applauding the puppy. "HA! Great job Ezio! That's the way to do it!" Ezio panted happily, tongue lolling as he leaned into the many scratches they gave him. "Ahahahaha, mio dio! You slaughtered the man Ezio! Good boy!" Fausto snickered, grinning wide with happiness and amusement. "Ah, that was awesome. Let's get out of here before more guards come though." Said Ottavio, Fausto nodding in agreement.
The trio took off again, this time going along a path where the rooftop heights differed a few feet. "We should teach Ezio how to do stealth kills. That would be cool, right? Besides, a frontal attack isn't always the smartest way to go." Ottavio nodded, agreeing. "Yeah, and being all black he could just pop out of dark places and attack people from behind." Excited, they started chattering about how they'd go about training the puppy to use stealthy attacks. Rooftops passed underfoot easily and without notice to the two assassins. Poor Ezio, though, didn't have the endurance that his two trainers did and when he tried to make the leap across a slightly long break between rooftops he missed and instead crashed through an open window, landing in a howling mass of puppy on something big and wooden.
At the crash and yelping, both Fausto and Ottavio whirled around and ran back, looking for the puppy. "Ah! Ezio! Where'd you go, buddy?" Called Fausto, looking down between rooftops and seeing Ezio stick his head up out of a mass of wood. He whimpered pitifully, his ears pinned back and disappearing into the fluff around his head. "Aw, Ezio!" Dropping down to the ledge outside the window, the novice assassins climbed in and Fausto pulled the poor pup out of the mess. Ezio instantly let out a string of whines and whimpers, curling up into his master's arms pitifully. "Awwww, you poor thing." Fausto looked the puppy over carefully then pulled him back into his chest. "You're fine, Ezio. Calm down buddy."
Ottavio looked at the mess Ezio had managed to create and let out a low whistle. "Wow, look at that. He sure made a mess of whatever that was." They didn't hear the light footsteps making their way up the stairs and into the room, too busy admiring Ezio's work. "That he did, mio amico. That he did. I'm impressed, Ezio. You messed it up pretty badly. I wonder what it even was?"
"My flying machine!" All three assassins jumped at the gasp, almost giving themselves whiplash as they jerked their heads around only to see Leonardo da Vinci standing there, face aghast. "What happened to it? Mio dio, I need to remake it!" Looking at the three, recognition dawned and he stopped, tilting his head to the side curiously. "Ottavio, Fausto, and the little darling Ezio, correggere?" He asked. Ottavio nodded. "Sì. We apologize for wrecking your… flying machine? We were teaching Ezio to freerun and I guess he missed the jump." Fausto gently shook the puppy, who was eyeing Leonardo happily. "He crashed into the machine and smashed it all to pieces. I'm sorry. We can help you-" The master novice was cut off by Leonardo walking up to him and plucking Ezio right out of his arms, the puppy barking happily and trying his hardest to lick the artists face.
"You poor thing, are you okay?" He cooed, cradling the puppy with one arm and checking him with his free hand. He talked quietly to the puppy the entire time he checked him over before returning his attention to Fausto and Ottavio. Fausto was grinning and behind his mask Ottavio looked amused. "He's fine. You were teaching him to freerun, you say? How does he get onto the rooftops? I can't see you carrying him up being very effective, especially since he is still a growing baby." At that, Ottavio's grin could be seen behind his mask and Fausto smirked proudly. "We've taught him how to climb up walls. He's not too bad at it for being a puppy. I bet that when he's bigger he'll be able to climb up them pretty easily." Bragged Fausto, looking as proud as could be. Ezio barked proudly, his tongue lolling and tail wagging with happiness.
Leonardo snickered and stroked the puppy some more. "You're a smart little thing, aren't you?" He asked, his owners nodding quickly. "Anyways, what were you saying earlier about helping?" Fausto paused for a moment, blinking in confusion, before remembering. "Oh, right! We'll help you fix your machine if you want us to. We didn't pay close enough attention to Ezio or we would have noticed him falling back and getting tired so it's really our fault that he broke it." He offered, the artist eyeing them for a moment before nodding. "Alright. You'll both help me remake it and test it once it's complete. It's a good thing it's so early; with you two helping I should be able to finish by tonight."
Walking over to his bed, he set Ezio down on it and smiled helplessly at the puppy. "You stay here and sleep, okay innamorato?" Ezio barked and licked his hand before stretching out on the mattress and promptly falling asleep. Leonardo laughed softly, stroking the puppy lightly.
Turning away from the little thing, he looked over at the two novices and smiled. "Grab that and bring it downstairs, would you? It'll be easier to work on in my workshop." Without watching to make sure they did as asked, he left the room and waited patiently in his workshop. It didn't take long for them to find the room and they set the materials down on the ground carefully, trying to avoid damaging them further. Leonardo looked through them quickly, finding what could be salvaged and what was useless and separating them.
Once he was done with that, he gathered the rest of the supplies he needed and smiled at his helpers. "Ready, i miei amici?" Fausto grinned and Ottavio nodded. "Si!"
-BREAK
"Aha! It's done! Now all we have to do is test it. Luckily I know the perfect place. Come, come. Grab that. Con cautela i miei amici! Take it outside while I go fetch Ezio. Just wait for me outside; I'll be there shortly." Without waiting for the tired-looking novices to say anything, Leonardo whooshed out of the room and up the stairs, presumably to get the puppy.
Fausto looked over at Ottavio sleepily, shoulders drooping. "Mio dio, how does that man do it? All this math and stuff, it hurts my brain!" Ottavio shook his head, his eyes looking pained as he gingerly reached for the newly rebuilt flying machine. "I don't know, Fausto. Let's get this outside before he gets down here. Maybe we'll get a break before testing it." That made Fausto sigh and grab the other side of it, letting Ottavio take the lead on moving the machine outside. "That worries me, mio amico. What does he mean, testing?" Ottavio shrugged.
They set the machine down outside and sat down, Fausto leaning on his elbows with a big yawn. "I think he means we're going to use it to make sure it works." Said Ottavio after a moment of comfortable silence, Fausto snapping his head around with a worried and fearful look. "Oh, no. I hope not! I don't like heights. I don't want to test this machine, mio amico." Ottavio snickered, grinning at his friend evilly. "I know." A chill went up Fausto's spine and he eyed the novice warily. He was about to ask him what he was planning but instead was cut off by a black fuzz ball ramming into his side, making him fall over. It only took him a second and a wet tongue attacking his face for him to realize who it was.
He picked the puppy up and laughed while Leonardo left his home, locking the door. He faced them and smiled, clapping his hands together. "Molto bene, molto bene! Pick it up and we'll go." He walked past them happily, Fausto and Ottavio standing and lifting the flying machine up easily. Ezio trotted up to the artist and barked up at him, his tail wagging happily as the man smiled down at him.
The two novices sighed and followed after the artist and puppy, glaring darkly at anyone who came too close to the machine. There was no way they were going to have to rebuild the stupid thing. So not worth it.
After a long walk out of the city, they finally reached a twenty foot cliff overlooking a worn traveling path and Leonardo had them set the machine down. "Okay, who is going to test it?" Fausto immediately pointed to Ottavio, the other novice pointing back at the higher ranking novice. "Fausto should do it. He's the master novice and more skilled. He's less likely to break it." Said Ottavio slyly, Fausto glaring murder at his partner. Leonardo nodded in agreement. "That's very smart. Okay mio amico. Come here and I'll explain how to work it." Head dropping and shoulders drooping depressingly, Fausto trudged up to the machine and glared at it. He listened with half an ear as Leonardo explained how everything work and how to steer it before taking it up properly and taking a deep breath. He shot Ottavio a dark glare that promised death or severe pain before leaping off the cliff, the strong winds carrying him along over the road and aqueducts.
"AHHHHHHHHH! Mio dio, Ottavio I'm going to kill you! Oh god, I'm going to die!" He screamed, eyes locked onto the ground and the large distance between him and it. Fausto cried out unintelligibly, flying in wide circles and slowly losing altitude. Ottavio, when he saw him, was on the ground, laughing so hard that his hood fell off and revealed his blonde hair. Leonardo looked worried and was yelling out to him, trying to give him directions and tell him how to land it.
With tears of pure terror in his eyes, Fausto listened to the artist and began landing the flying machine. Without the ability to see clearly, though, he didn't realize that he was landing in an aqueduct until he suddenly became soaked and was dragged along by the water flow, a shocked cry falling from his lips. "MIO DIO!" Gasped Fausto, eyes wide as he shot through the aqueduct.
Fausto only had a few seconds warning before Ezio grabbed him by his collar, yanked him out of the water, and promptly shoved him off of the aqueduct. Fausto squealed with terror as he flew down towards the ground, crashing into a giant puddle of mud face first. He laid there for a moment, knowing that Ottavio was probably just dying with laughter back on the cliff. He didn't move as the flying machine was carefully picked up and set aside and only moved to lift his face out of the mud so that he could breathe when it started getting hard. He could hear Ottavio's obnoxious laughter even with mud in his ears and he huffed moodily, stubbornly refusing to look at Ezio as the master assassin squatted down in front of him.
"Are you okay brother?" Fausto snorted, mud shooting out of his nose. "Si, si master. I'm fine. I just need a bath now and to kill Ottavio is all." He pushed himself to his knees, then to his feet, scowling darkly the entire way. His robes were drenched with water and dripping with mud, his hood hanging down almost to his nose. Mud dripped off his chin and Ezio couldn't help the slight snicker that escaped at the sight of the pissed off, pitiful novice.
Annoyed, Fausto wiped the mud off his face and pushed his hood back. Even his hair, which was normally a vibrant orange, was covered in mud and looked brown. "What were you doing, playing with a flying machine?" Fausto looked at the taller Assassin and quickly looked away, checking on his weapons nervously. "Ezio broke one this morning while Ottavio and I were teaching him to freerun and so we offered to help repair it. Da Vinci decided that we would help him test it too. I was testing it." Ezio sighed heavily and looked around, quickly spotting the worried-looking Leonardo and still-laughing Ottavio. Both were heading down the cliff, the little black puppy racing ahead to check on Fausto. "Of course. Come along novice. Get out of the mud. Leonardo will have to make sure you're okay before any of us go anywhere." He ordered, Fausto moving out of the mud and being tackled by a puppy.
He caught the little black dog and held him away from his body with a click of his tongue. "No, Ezio. I'm covered in mud. I don't want to try to clean that out of your fur. It's about as easy as blood and that's not very easy." He said, the puppy whining and wiggling in his grasp. Setting the puppy on the ground with a firm command to sit, Fausto gave Leonardo a reassuring smile as he ran up. "Fausto are you okay? You hit the ground so quickly! Tell me, are you hurting anywhere mio amico? Anywhere at all?" Fausto shook his head, mud falling out of his hair and dropping into his face again. He swiped at it angrily. "I'm fine signore. I promise." He glared around Leonardo at Ottavio, his eyes promising pain and lots of it. Ottavio just smirked darkly, his arms crossed smugly over his chest. Leonardo didn't look satisfied but backed off anyways, not wanting to push the assassin and anger him further.
"Well, the test was a success so we can go back to town now. Are you sure you're okay Fausto?" Fausto sighed and pushed Leonardo towards the city. "I promise you, I'm fine. If you'd like I'll come by later and prove to you that I'm fine. I'll bring Ezio with me." The master Assassin blinked for a moment, about to demand where he got the power to take him anywhere, then remembered that the puppy had been given his name and shook his head. Leonardo sighed. "Alright. That will be fine."
They headed back into the city, carefully avoiding the guards, and once inside Ottavio, Fausto and Ezio took to the rooftops, the two novices keeping an eye on the puppy in case he got tired again. He seemed to be fine and they made it back to the guild hall without incident only for the other novices to bust out laughing upon seeing Fausto. The master novice just glared death at them and stomped past them all, Ezio growling at them as fiercely as he could for being a puppy. Ottavio snapped at them angrily. "Shut your traps. I'm the only one allowed to pick on him and make fun of that idiot."
"SHUT UP OTTAVIO! I'M STILL GOING TO KILL YOU."