Notes: Altair, Malik or Maria Belong to Ubisoft but the rest are my OCs. Also The song sung is "all my loving by the Beetles"
Altair stood in front of Al Mualim, His arms being held behind his back by two other Assassins. He did not fight them, he just listened to his master lecture him about the creed. His face still stung from were he had been slapped, he was humiliated to be treated like some small child.
"I'm sorry, I truly am but I can not abide a traitor." Al Mualim said disappointed as he pulled out the dagger from his belt.
"I am not a traitor!" Altair pleaded with him. He knew what was coming, he would die because he compromised the creed.
"Your actions indicate otherwise, and so you leave me no choice." He took a few steps towards Altair. "Peace be upon you Altair." He then stabbed him in the stomach.
Altair sat up in his bed with a loud groan of pain. He was panting heavily as sweat rolled down his face, panicked it lifted the blankets off him and inspected his stomach. It was dark but all he could see was the vague scar left behind from that day. He was confused, the pain felt so real and still felt real.
His pained groan had woken his wife that slept next to him. She looked at him concerned. "Are you alright?"
He got up to put on his robes and leaned over the bed to kiss her before leaving. "I'm fine, just need some air, go back to sleep love." Groggy, she watched him leave.
He stepped outside his door and leaned on the wall, he held his stomach with his left hand. There was more light so he checked again to only find scars. This baffled him, he had never felt so much pain come without any injuries. He put the hood of his Grandmaster robe on and decided to walk to the library and see if he could find any books that might help him figure out what was wrong with him, surely the healers would think his crazy if he went to them complaining of an invisible pain. Still holding his stomach with his left hand, he slid his right hand along to wall to keep him up right. He reached the library and straighten to appear normal, he wasn't expecting someone else to be up this early.
"Greets Altair" Malik said as he closed his book. "Does something ail you?"
"What makes you ask that?" He said, taking a seat at the desk and tried hiding his face as much as possible.
"I haven't seen you up this early since your children were born." He mused.
"Can't sleep, why are you up so early?" He shifted.
"Same but I also have reports to go over. You'll be happy to know your son Darim training is going will in Acre, his turning out to be an excellent bowsmen." He wonder why Altair wasn't making eye contact him.
Altair cleared his throat. "Good. Thanks for letting me know." He was clenching his knees under the table.
Malik walked over and pulled Altairs hood off, he knew he would be the only one other then his family to get away with such an action. "What's wrong? You don't look well."
"It's nothing." He looked at Malik who seemed determined to get an answer out of him with the look he was receiving. "I dreamt of the day I was on trial with Al Mualim, the day he stabbed me in the stomach. The pain felt so real that it woke me." He sighed waiting for the belittlement to begin.
"I understand." He rubbed his chin. "Well don't let it bother you, it happens sometimes." He shrugged and walked back to his book. "Try to get some sleep, there isn't anything of urgency that requires your attention."
"Alright then." After sometime he slowly got up to leave. He staggered back to his room and laid down next to his wife that was still sleeping. He could only hope that the pain he was felling would eventually pass. He laid on his left side holding his stomach as he bit his right hand trying to suppress any groans that threatened to escape his lips.
Maria opened her eyes to see it was morning, she rolled over to see her husband laying in bed next to her. She sat up and leaned over to kiss him but stopped. She was alarmed to see him covered in sweat with a pained look on his face. "Altair! What's wrong?" He gave a pained groan when she pulled him onto his back, he kept his head to the left with his eyes shut. She placed her hand on his forehead and he felt hot to the touch. She jumped out of bed and got dressed, she rushed down the hallway towards the library were she knew Malik would be.
"Malik!" She yelled before she got to the door and slid to a halt. "I'm sorry to disturb you." She bowed, she wasn't expecting him to be talking with someone.
Malik glared at her wondering what she was thinking barging in like that. He noticed the concerned look on her face. "What is it?" He saw her look to the two men he had been speaking with, then back at him. He took the hint. "Excuse me, I'll be right back." And escorted Maria into the hall way. "What's gotten into you?" He asked.
"Where is Asiya? We need Asiya!" She blurted out almost panicked.
That alarmed him, he had always known her to be at easy or determined in everything she did, never fearful. "What happened, Why do you need our best healer?"
"There's something wrong with Altair, please summon Asiya!" She pleaded with him.
He nodded and asked her to wait a moment. He returned to the library and dismissed the assassins he was speaking with before walking over to Amin. "Tell Asiya to drop whatever shes doing and to meet me in the masters chambers." Amin nodded and he did as asked. Malik followed Maria back to the room, he was taken back by what he saw, he had know Altair all his life and never expected to see him this kind of state. He was panting heavily with sweat dripping down his face, what worried him more was the pained expression he wore. Altair had been beaten, whipped, stabbed, poison, shot with arrows and never once showed any expression of pain like that he was in at this moment.
Maria sat next to him on the bed and took his right hand that was clenching the blanket. "Asiya will be here shortly." She caressed his hand.
"What? Why?" His eyes snapped open and looked at her surprised.
"There is obviously something wrong with you." Malik said.
"I'm fine." Altair tried to get up but the pain in his stomach wouldn't allow him too.
Malik figured he had to be in some serous pain as he watched him roll on to his left side and hold his stomach. "Novice. Just relax and let Asiya examine you."
15 Minutes later Asiya entered the room and bowed. "Master, will you allow me to examine you?" She watched as he tried to compose himself and nodded. She walked over to the left side of the bed and put down her bag. She placed her hand on his forehead. "Other then the fever, what else ails you?" She waited for his reply.
Maria and Malik both sighed, they knew he wouldn't want to answer. "His been holding his stomach a lot." Maria finally spoke up and received the angry glare.
Asiya undid his robes to reveal his stomach, she looked confused. It looked normal, no injuries, no rashes, nor did it look swollen. She notice he tensed as soon as she started applying pressure to the upper part of his stomach, she worked her way down to the lower half till he shot up. He grabbed her hand and glared at her as he panted heavily, he released her hand immediately after. She eased him back down to the bed before she turned to Malik and Maria. "I don't understand why his in so much pain." She picked up her bag took out a vial with dark green liquid in it. "Have him drink this Angelica mix, it should help whatever is bothering him, also resting will help aswell." She walked over to Maria and handed her the vial. "I suggest applying a wet cloth over his forehead to help bring down his fever while I do some more research. I'm sorry I can't be of more help" She bowed to them embarrassed for being so useless.
Malik placed his hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for your time, please tell me what you find."
She bowed in the direction of the Master. "I'll come back later to see how your doing." She saw him nod and took her leave.
"I'll go get a bowl of water and a cloth then." She gave Malik the vial before leaving.
Malik walked over to the bed and handed him the vial. "Your not going to make us force you to drink it, will you?"
Altair painfully sat up and grabbed the vial out of his hand, he drank the foul liquid. He suppressed the urge to vomit immediately after finishing it. The drink had a strong aroma and it's thick and bitter substance made him nauseous. He saw Malik was quite content with the lack of fight he put up and watched as he turned to leave. "You can't expect me to really remain in bed all day?"
He sighed, he knew it wasn't going to be that easy. "Not only do I expect you too but I also expect you to rest and sleep."
"What about the Order? I can't just stay here." He slowly laid back down.
"What would you do? You can hardly sit up without being in agony." He leaned on the wall near the door. "And I can always run the Order till your better, I did it when you ventured to Crypus and I'm more then capable of doing it again. I hope you agree?"
He sighed. "Fine, do as you please, just keep me informed on any major developments." With that said he saw him nod and leave. He rolled onto his lift side again and begun to shiver, the nauseous feeling didn't leave him.
Maria was disappointed to see Asiya couldn't help, not that she blamed her, she was Masyaf best healer. She was known for saving countless Assassins lives and she knew she would do everything in her power to figure out what was wrong with him. She just wished she could do more then just keep a wet cloth on his head. A thought came to mind and she started writing to an old friend of hers. He was a highly revered doctor that she knew when she was with the Templars, she knew he would give her any information she need. She wrote down what Altair was experiencing and sent the pigeon out. She returned to their room, and was disappointed to see him shaking on his side, with another pained groan she rolled him on to his back and placed the wet cloth on his forehead as she sat on the bed.
He could see how worried she was and lifted his hand to caress her cheek. "I'll be alright." He said with a smile.
She laid down next to him and used his shoulder as a pillow, she ran her hand over his chest. "I know you'll be, we'll make sure of it." She felt him chuckle before he tensed for a short period. The rest of the day he alternated from violently shivering to being drenched in sweat. She tried to get him to eat something but he refused, she was able to get him to drink water. If he slept any it was for too brief a time before the pain woke him up again.
Malik returned later that night and held out a letter. He looked at Maria ferociously but didn't say a word, he was happy to see Altair asleep for the moment. She slowly got up and meet him in the hallway. "What the hell is this about?" He whispered, showing her the letter. "Are you out of your mind! If it was anyone other then me retrieved this, you would have been killed on sight."
She took the letter and opened it. "I was hoping he wouldn't use that seal." She headed to the library to talk with Asiya.
"Hey! You can't just leave and not tell me what that letters about!" He hissed quietly to her, she wave for him to follow. He looked into the room once more to see Altair on his side again and let out a sigh before following her to the library.
"Asiya, were you able to find out what could be wrong with my husband?" She walked in to see several book on the desk and papers full on notes next to her.
"I have a few theories, but nothing I can be sure of. I'm sorry to say I have never dealt with anyone suffering from his pains." She said disappointed with herself. She saw Malik wave them into the corner of the library.
"My friend says with the symptoms I sent him it sounds like his appendix would have to be removed. If it not dealt with soon, leaving it unchecked will kill him. Are you able to do such a thing?" She asked Asiya.
She was about to reply when she was interrupted by Malik. "Have you lost your mind? We can't take advice from a Templar! You've compromised the creed by letting the Templars know the head of the Order's ill!" They argued in hush tones. Asiya eyes widened in shock of what he said.
"His not just any Templar, his a great doctor and hates the Templars as much as I do! I didn't tell him Altair was the head of the Order, just that my friend was sick and I would like his advice on what might be wrong. He owes me his life! He'd have no reason to lie to me." She turned to Asiya. "Are you able to do it?"
"I have never done it before, I have only ever stitched and removed foreign objects from wounds. I have never deliberately cut someone open to remove something before, the complications behind something like that could easily kill the person if the healer didn't know what they were doing." She looked to Malik concerned.
"Andrew will be able to do it, his done it several times in the past." She said eager to do something.
"His a Templar, how do we know he won't deliberately kill him?" Malik frowned at his own question and rubbed his eyes. "I can't believe I'm even considering this."
"I can convince him to do it, remember he owes me his life and we considered each other family. Please! We have to do this! We can't let Altair die."
"Do you think I want him to die?" He hissed at her. "This plan is dangerous on a number of scales. Have you even told Altair of this plan of yours?"
"Of course not. I didn't expect this to need to be an option." She glared at him.
"Good, lets keep it that way." He sighed. "You realize if he lives through this, His going to kill us."
"He'll be mad at first but he'll come to his sense." She assured him.
"Mad doesn't even describe the fury he'll have towards us. If he feels trapped, no matter how much pain his in, he'll summon the strength to attack and kill. How else do you think he was able to face off with you, fight through two armies to kill De Sable and kill Al Mualim all in two days with no rest." He started to pace.
"What would you have us do then Malik." Asiya asked him.
He sighed. "I'll send Asim and Amin to company you and Altair there. They are my best men and can be trusted to understand the situation. Asiya, You'll go to. Hopefully you can learn something from this, if not at lest try and keep an eye on Altair and this Templar." A thought dawned on him. "Where is this place anyway?"
"Andrew clinic is in a small town just before Acre, it should take us a day by horse." Maria said.
"We can't have him ride on horse back in the condution his in and we can't bring the Templar here either, what we are doing right now is punishable by death." Malik continued to pace.
"We can borrow the horse drawn caravan the traders use. It won't draw to much attention and it will be easier to keep Altair sleep for the ride." Asiya suggest.
He sighed heavily. "Maria I hope your right about all this. We'll all be killed if Altair dies and if he lives, his probably still going to kill us."
Malik went to Asim and Amin and filled them in on the situation, He told them to only take orders from either Asiya or Maria, they were also in charge of driving and preparing the caravan, they returned to Malik as soon as it was ready. Asiya prepared some sleeping elixir and had given one to Maria.
Maria returned to the room to see his state hadn't changed, he was sweating and panting again. She bent down on the left side of the bed and ran her hand throw his hair. He opened his eyes to see her. "Asiya says this will help you sleep through the night, you need rest." She handed it too him.
He slow got up and took it, He watched her go to sit on the other side of the bed. It was easier to drink the sleeping elixir then the last one and he wasn't going to refuse her. She would have shoved it down his throat if he had. He laid back down and Maria laid next to him again. "Did you know, they say your life flashes before your eyes when your about to die?" He was struggling to stay focus, the elixir was taking effect a lot faster then he had expected it too.
She tensed and got up to look him in the eyes, she could see his fatigue. "Don't talk of such things. You've had to much time to think by yourself in this room. You're not dieing, I won't let you too."
He chuckled. "Your probably right." Was the last thing he said before falling sleep.
Maria got up to get the others. They wrapped several blanks around him and pulled the hood of his robe over his face, it was cold in the dead of night. Asim and Amin carried him out by stretcher and laid him down on a makeshift bed of hay and blankets, Asiya was already their waiting for them. Asim and Asiya sat in the back that was fully tarped in white cloth with the sleeping Altair. Amin had the rains while Maria sat beside him to give directions.
The caravan had hit a bump and it stirred him from his sleep, he found moving was difficult and wondered how he had become so entangled in a blanket. He opened his eyes to see that his hood was draped over his face. He tried shaking the hood off till he felt the pain shoot through his head, he arched his back and let out a groan. He felt someone touch his shoulder. His mouth was flooded with a minty tasting liquid much like what he had earlier and swallowed it without thinking. "Relax Master, everything is okay." His mouth was then filled with water and he drank that too. After a short coughing spell and the intense pain subsided slightly, he tried to take in his surrounds. He felt like he was moving but his hood was blocking his view and muffling any sounds he could hear, before he knew it his body relaxed and drifted back to sleep.
Asiya lifted his hood to see him asleep again. It was early morning and was staring to become hot, she slowly started to remove the blankets he was wrapped in. Her eyes landed on his hidden blade and stared at it for a brief time. She took his left arm and started to remove it.
"What are you doing?" Asim whispered to her. "The hidden blades a sacred weapon, you can't just remove it without his permission."
"What's the difference?" She removed it and placed it into her bag, "We don't have his permission to be doing what we are doing now. If his going to kill us later, we might as well have a fighting chance."
A few hours later, the caravan had stopped and Maria, Asim and Amin were fighting off a band of 20 templars that decided to pick a fight with them. Asiya sat nervously in side peering out at the fight. She could hear the clanging of metal and the shouts of death, the groan beside her made her jump and rushed to get another vial. He acted the same way as before, she was happy to see he didn't refuse drinking the vial. "Rest Master, Everything's alright." She poured water in to his mouth and he drank that as well. He tried speaking but she could only make out mumbles. She held his shoulder again and after a few minutes he begun to relax and was soon asleep again. His empty stomach was allowing the sleep elixir to take effect faster.
With another loud shout of death the last templar feel by Maria's sword. The three panted for a moment before she saw them return to the caravan. "Wait! Grab a set of armour." She grabbed a set and started wiping the blood off it.
"What?" They both shouted at once. "Why would we need their armour for?" Amin inquired with a disgusted look on his face.
"I know how the Templars work, this wont be the last band of Templar knights we run into and we can't afford to stop and kill them all each time. If we look like them they will over look us and think we are simply patrolling the area." She saw them hesitated before seeing the wisdom in her words.
"And what am I to do if the Master wakes up and seeing a Templar Knight sitting across from him?" Asim asked nervously at the thought.
"That's why we have the hood over his face to block out the light and him seeing where he is and if he does start to wake, wrap a blanket over you till Asiya can get him back to sleep." Maria suggested.
They all dressed in the armour before heading back to the caravan. "No wonder Templars are so easy to kill sometimes, how can you fight in such heavy armour." Amin shifted the armour's weight on his shoulders. He heard Maria laugh.
Asiya saw Asim nervously poke his head throw the flaps of the fabric, she waved him in and her eyes grew wide with what he was wearing. They started moving and he placed two blankets by his side just in case.
Maria was right, they passed two other bands of Templars, they had simply nodded to them and they returned the favour. It wasn't till the third group were they ran into some trouble. She saw the Captain ride on ahead of his group to meet them, she leaned over to Amin. "let me handle this and play along, she knocked on the seat to alert the people in the back."
"Where are the rest of your troops?" The Captain asked.
"The General sent us off a head." Maria replied.
"Why, what are you carrying?" He eyed the caravan suspiciously.
"A prisoner, the General requested he be brought to Acre for interrogation." She cursed in her head with the smirk that appeared on his face.
"A prisoner you say." He got off his horse headed to the back.
Maria tapped Amin on the shoulder to say it will be alright and got into the caravan by the front. She was happy to see Asim had taken the opportunity to tie Altairs hands in front of him and Asiya hid under the bench they were sitting on that was covered by the blankets. She watched the Captains eyes grow wide.
"An assassin!" He said surprised. "He must be highly ranked. I never seen one wearing black before." A smirk came over his face and lifted his hand to punch the unconscious assassin. Maria grab his wrist just before he could hit him. "What do you think your doing?" The Captain hissed.
"The General has requested, he arrive there unharmed." The Captain yanked his wrist out of her grip. "Would you like to explain to him why his orders would go unanswered?" She saw him shift his armour.
"Fine, be on your way then." He hopped out and walked to his horse, he came back to the front.
Maria took a seat in the front again. "May the father of understanding guild you." She told him.
"And to you as well." He nodded and returned to his troops.
Once they were out of sight of the Templars the all breathed a sigh of relief. "I know we are fearless assassins but I don't think I have ever been so tense before." Amin mused. "Who is this General you kept speaking of?
"It's a title we all use to whoever is in command. I told De Sable, that using titles like that made it too easy for someone to impersonate them but I guess I'm glad he didn't listen." She laughed.
Asiya had come out from under the bench, she was relieved to see the commotion hadn't waken him. She watched Asim untie his hands.
"Lets hope we don't have to do that again, that was cutting it a little close." Asim said.
As they travailed Altair had woken up two more times, once late in the afternoon and the other early evening. Both times she got him to drink the vials with more water to keep him hydrated, his fever wasn't so bad when he slept. She opened the front flap. "How much loner till we get there? I have run out of vials."
"We should make it there after sunset. Didn't you make enough?" Maria inquired.
"Two vials should have been more then enough to keep him a sleep till tomorrow morning. I didn't expect him to wake up four times already." She said frustrated.
The rest of the trip went smoothly. They had arrived at the house that served as Andrew's place of healing. Maria and the others took off the armour and she went inside to meet with him. He followed her out of the house and stopped, He saw the three Assassins standing beside the caravan.
"Why are the Assassins here!" He took a few steps back. A thought came to him. "Your going to have me treat an Assassin? Have you lost your mind Maria?"
"I saved you and your family, remember? The least you can do is save mine." She pleaded with him.
"Do you realize how much danger you've put us all in?" He started to pace. "What if the other Templars found out?" He stopped pacing when a horrible thought came to mind. "What if I accidently kill him? The Assassins won't hesitate to kill me right after."
"You won't kill him! I have faith in you. The Templars will never find out and we are all good as dead if he should die." She took his hands. "Please you have to save him."
He nervously looked over to the three assassins who wore their mask of indifference. "Who is he? he must by really important for you to be bringing him to me."
"He's my husband, Altair Ibn La Ahad." Shes said casually.
He slapped the plum of his hand on his forehead. "You couldn't have brought me any Assassin, no... You had to bring me their leader." He took a few minutes to think it over. "Your lucky I consider you family otherwise there would be no way I could even consider doing this." He sighed. "Bring him in so I can see what I'm dealing with."
She waved to the other Assassins and followed him in. "I have one more request." She asked him.
"And what would that be?" He laid a sheet on the table he would work on.
"Would you mind teaching Asiya, our head healer?" She pleaded with him again.
He paused. "If only you agree to never bring another Assassin here." He resumed. "Not that I have something against them but this is such a dangerous situation, The Templars have only just started to leave me alone."
Asim and Amin brought in Altair who groaned as they laid him on the table. He rolled on to left side and removed his hood over his eyes, his vision was blurred. "Where am I?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes. His vision slowly began to focus as he looked at the other two Assassins confused, they had nervous looking expressions on their face. Before he could figure out why, the full force of pain hit him sending him to his back. He started breathing heavily when he heard someone approaching, he eye grow wide in disbelieve, the person had stopped at the door way and looked as equally shocked but Altair was more focused with the small Templar symbol he wore upon his white robe. "Templar!" He growled, siting up quickly, it caused his head to spin and the protest of pain sent him falling to his elbows. He looked to the other two Assassin. "What are you waiting for?" He yelled at them. "Kill the Templar!" He saw the Templar flinch waiting for the attack that didn't come. Confused he watched them turn to him and bow.
"I'm sorry Master, but we can not full fill your request. Please for give us." They pleaded with him.
"What?" He shouted in disbelieve, their disobedience enraged him. He looked back at the Templar. "Fine, I'll kill him myself." He leaped off the table and darted towards the man who was taking a few steps in fear. He remembered two things before he was being pulled back to the table by his arms. He let out a pained yell as they slammed him on to the table and tried to pin him there. The first was the lack of clicking sounds that should of come from his hidden blade being triggered. The other was his wife shouting at his men to stop him, after the shock of his own men turning on him wore off he began to struggle. "Get off me!" He yelled and kicked Amin in the face making him stager backwards before he turned his attention to Asim. He was able to get in one punch before someone grab his wrists and pinned them above his head.
"I have his hands! Hold down this legs!" Maria shouted at the other two assassins who did as asked.
He stared at her horrified, even she turned on him. He struggled under their combine weight as the pain in his stomach roared at him. "What are you doing! I demand you release me!" He growled viciously at them.
"Relax Altair, He's here to help you." Maria calmly told him. This seemed to stop his struggling.
"Help me? Are you mad! I'd rather die then have a Templar help me!" He shouted and double his efforts to break free from their grip.
She sighed at the obvious fact he over looked from that statement before struggling to keep her grip on his arms. She was surprised that Malik was right, he has been feverish for two days, hasn't ate in three, was drugged four times and three people were having a hard time keeping him pinned to the table.
Andrew composed himself and nervously approached Altair, he begun to explain to Asiya how to diagnose his condition, what kind of symptoms to look out for. She took notes in a book.
Altair stopped his struggling and glared at the Templar. "What are you doing! Get away from me!" He hissed at him, he watched him reach out his hand. "Don't you dare touch...!" He ended up screaming in pain as he arched his back when pressure was applied to his lower stomach.
Andrew ignored his scream and continued. "If you feel there, you can feel how swollen it is even if his stomach appears normal." He motioned for her to do so.
She hesitated before she bowed to him. "Please forgive me, Master."
Altair had just recovered from the first touch and arched his back again with loud groan of pain. When she stopped he felt a violent shiver shake his entire body, he growled at them barring his teeth.
"I see." Asiya said as she took more notes.
"The only thing to do now is to put him out of his agony." Andrew said as he walked over to another table and took his own sleeping elixir. "Asiya, please hold his head still."
Altair saw what was coming now. "I'm not drinking that! Your all traitors!" He struggled, when she held his head still. Andrew held his nose closed with one hand and held the vial close in the other. He was momentary confused to what he was doing, then he figured out he was being forced to breath by his mouth and as soon as he did the vial would be forced down his throat and would be forced to drink it. He held his breath for as long as he could stand it, he cursed in his head as he felt his lung start to burn and were about to betray him. He finally gasped for air and Andrew took that opportunity to shove the vial to the back of his throat. His body forced him to drink the liquid or risk chocking on it. Altair managed to twist his body knocking the vial out of his mouth and breaking everyone's hold on him. He was in fight or flight mode now, it was five against one and he had no weapons. He got to his feet and jumped from the table, His feet barely touched the floor when he was tackled to the ground. He groaned and felt two more sets of hand around his arms once more and was pulled back to the table.
"Dammit Altair! Stop making this so difficult!" Maria yelled at him.
Maria pinned his shoulders to the table, while Asiya and Andrew held his arms to his sides and Amin and Asim held his legs. "Release me!" He yelled and started to struggle again, after a few moments he stopped and panted heavily. "I swear, I'm going to kill each and everyone one of you!" He growled at them. He vision was starting to blur and he shook his head in an attempt to remain alert. He felt his body relax. "Your all traitors, I'll make you pay for this." He said in a more relaxed tone, a few minutes more his eyes shut and his head fell to his right.
They all breathed a heavy sigh and released their hold on him. "Everyone one okay?" Andrew asked and sighed again. "No wonder the Templars fear his name, I have heard the stories but now I really believe them."
"I'm pretty sure he broke my nose." Amin held the bridge of his nose and wiped the blood away with his sleeve. "I don't blame him for fighting. I'm pretty sure we would have all acted that way but I doubt we would have had the strength he did." He looked at Andrew. "No offence." He shrugged.
"None taken, this is an unique situation we find ourselves in." He shrugged back.
"Do I have time to tend to it?" Asiya asked Andrew.
"Yes, he won't be waking up anytime soon." He took a seat.
It was roughly mid night when they started and the sun was rising when they were done. Altair had stopped breathing twice but Asiya was able to bring him back. He was pale white from all the blood he lost. Two weeks later he didn't look much better, he gained a little color but with the fever and infection that followed afterwards he still hadn't regained consciousness resulting in him losing weight.
Altair let out a few dry choughs before his lips were greeted with water, he drank everything and moaned. He dropped his head to his left and felt some ones hand run throw the right side of his face but he didn't know who, he couldn't remember who he was or where he was for the longest time. He heard several people speaking but couldn't make out what they were saying, nor did he have the energy to try. All he could remember was being feed an endless supply of water, at one point he chocked and that's when he became aware of any form of pain. He tried to move his arms and legs but found it very difficult to, he couldn't understand why and stopped trying. He decided to open his eyes and it took a few tries before his vision started to focus. He tried to move his arms and legs again to find he still couldn't, He opened his eyes and lifted his head to find he was in restraints. He let his head fall back to the pillow and closed his eyes. He started to think about why he was tied down. He ignored the voices he kept hearing, nothing they said made any sense to him. After being feed more water, he started to remember who he was and his life played before his eyes. He remembered everything up till the day he was fighting for his life against who he thought were his friends, he was confused to why though. He chocked on the water again and gasped for air, he tried sitting up and felt the retrains around his chest, arms, wrists, upper and lower legs. He relaxed in the bed and opened his eyes. He frowned when he saw Andrew staring back at him, he remembered why now.
"I'm glad to see your finally alert Mr. Ibn La Ahad." Andrew said putting down the cup. "Your quite lucky to be a live, but then again I should expect no less from the legendary assassin himself." He saw Altair glare at him and followed his every move as he paced. "You've been unconscious for three weeks and drifting in and out of consciousness for the last week." He sat down on the seat that was near the bed. "Do you remember why your here and who may have brought you?."
"I know the traitors that brought me here. It must have been pretty worth it to bring me to the Templars." he clenched his hands at the rage that was beginning to boil inside him. "What I don't understand is why you havn't killed me, you would be deemed a hero for slaying the mighty Assassins such as I or maybe the price on my head is worth more if I'm alive."
"You were brought here because you were ill, not to be handed over to them. I'm not like the other Templars, I would break ties with them completely if I could." He turned his gaze away from Altair. "If it wasn't for your wife all those years ago I would have been forced to torture anyone they deemed worthy of my surgical skills. They found out I could keep someone a live for several hours when cutting them open and figured it was the perfect way to extracted information. I didn't join the Templars to become a monster, I joined to help people, so when I refused to do it, the threatened to kill my family till Maria steped in. She managed to get me disgraced from the Order but I'm greatful none the less."
"What are you going to do with me now?" Altair glared at him, not trusting a word he said.
He turned and looked at Altair confused. "What do you mean?"
"There a reason to why I'm being restrained, right? If I were to truly believe your story of being the good Templar I would expect not to be tied up. I also see no signs of the traitors that have left me in your capable hands. Which leaves me to believe I've been abandoned here to wait for a group of Templar lacks to come and collect me, while those traitors are living up their new positions." He was having a hard time containing the rage he felt inside when the sound of the Templar laughing distracted him. "What the hell is so funny?" He growled at him.
"I'm sorry, I can only image what Maria would do to you if she heard you say that. She and Amin are in Acre picking up some more supplies, Asiya is downstairs going through all the books I have about surgery and Asim is currently watching my every move still expecting me to kill you, I would guess." He sighed. "As to why your being restrained, it's to restrict your movement so you don't tear the fine stitching on your stomach. Due to infection, I have had to redo them several time already, in two or three days you'll be released from them and depending how fast you can regain your strength, you'll be able to leave and return to where ever the assassins come from." He got up. "Just rest for now and I'm sure Maria will be happy to know your finally awake and will be eager to feed you." He chuckled before he left.
He was frustrated, he didn't like being tied down like some animal. He tried to get his wrists out of the ties and noticed they were Assassin make knots, this enraged him more. "Asim!" He yelled.
Asim walked in and knelled on one knee with his head down. "What can I do for you Master?"
"You can start by untieing me!" He hissed.
"Please forgive me, but I can not obey that kind of request." He said respectful.
He growled in frustration. "Why the hell not?"
"Malik has requested we take orders from either Maria or Asiya."
"Great. Another person I'm going to kill for this." He watched Asim get up and bow.
"If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to call on me, I'll be just outside the door." He left to sit outside.
He was left alone to fume, he tried several times to break the ties on him before he finally sighed and gave up, they wouldn't be Assassins ties if they were easy to get out of. He accepted the fact that he was stuck like this for a while and let himself relax. He was able to see out the window and watched as the skies changed colors to night, with nothing more he could do, he slept.
He woke to the sounds of someone pacing, he frowned when he looked outside. It appeared to be mid afternoon, he slept longer then he intended too. Maria came in to his view and kissed him on his forehead before he pulled away. He heard her sigh.
"You must be hungry by now, would you like to eat?" She asked him kindly.
He didn't make eye contact with her. "No, I will not eat." He replied frustrated, he was to angry to eat.
"How much longer will you be sulking over this?" She asked him annoyed.
"I am not sulking! I am enraged at this betrayal!" He growled at her still refusing to make eye contact with her.
"Oh Altair..." She said in a sinister tone.
He had never heard her sound like that before and couldn't help but make eye contact. He was unprepared for the slap he received cross the left side of his face.
"That's for calling me a traitor!" She yelled at him.
He laid there with his head turned to the right for a moment, He couldn't believe she slapped him. He turned to look at her again and received an even harder slap across the left side of his face. She had slapped him hard enough that the sound it made seemed to echo through the room, he tasted blood in his mouth from accidently bitting his tongue and black dots danced his in vision momentary.
"And that's for really thinking we abandoned you to the Templars and were living up our new promotions." She was trying to suppress her feelings. "Your an idiot and a fool to even think of such a thing!" She screamed at him. "You can't just be happy that managed to save your life." She saw him finally look at her again. "Can you believe you stoped breathing twice! Luckily Asiya and Andrew were able to save you!" She wiped the tears from her eyes. "I hate you Altair! Your not the men I married!" She then stormed out of the room.
He laid there quiet for sometime, he started to reflect on everything his done before and after he woke up. The more he thought about it, the more terrible he felt with himself. Here his friends risked their lives to get him here knowing full well that it was a breach of the creed and if anyone found out they would have been killed, even he was calling them traitors. After a while he started to agree with her. He was an idiot.
The next week and a half seemed to drag on. Two days after Maria had slapped him, Andrew had untied him and checked to make sure the wound was healing properly. Andrew was taken back by him actually thanking him for what he did and told him if he should ever need a favour, the Assassins would be there to help. After that day he started treating his fellow Assassins with the respect they desired. Amin would often be the one to bring him food and the first chance he got, he apologised to all three of them for his disgraceful behaviour. This seemed to put them more at ease around him and they all replied the same way by saying it was alright. He was annoyed that he was confined to the room but it was apparently Maria's idea so he didn't argue with it.
Altair sat on the bed leaning his back on the wall and arms on his bent knees. "Asim?" He called.
Asim came in and bowed to him. "How may I help you Master?"
"I told you to stop calling me that." He sighed. He figured the people that he highly respected and who he considered friends shouldn't be calling him Master.
Asim cleared his throat. "Forgive me, how may I help you Altair."
"How is Malik covering up my sudden disappearance to the others?" He crossed his legs and sat forward.
"Malik explained to the others in so many words that we had information that something was about to compromise the Order and we rushed off to stop it."
Altair frowned at the thought. "How are we going to do that? We'll have no proof of eliminating a threat."
"But we do have proof." He pulled out a box and showed him a feather covered in dry blood.
He stared at it confused. "How did you get that? Who did we kill to get that blood?"
"Well, it's your blood." He watched Altairs eyes grow wide. "Technically your ailment was compromising the Order, so since your a live and well, it's mission complete." They both started laughing.
It had been two weeks since he had woken up, two weeks his been cooped up in that room and two weeks since he last saw Maria slap him cross the face. Andrew came into the room later that morning and handed his Grandmaster clothing back to him. Altair got dressed and thanked him, He reminded Andrew again if ever he should need a favour, to call on the Assassins. He stepped outside for the first time in six weeks, he took in a deep breath and stretched. He saw the caravan they were travelling back in and frown to see Maria sitting the front not acknowledging his presence. He saw Asiya and Asim climb into the back of it and follow afterwards. He sat on the makeshift bed and sighed before opening his eyes again and frowned. "What the hell is that doing here?" He pointed to the Templar helm that sat under the bench. He watched them both jump and stare at each other trying to come up with answer. "Never mind. I think I rather not know, just get rid of it." Asim nodded and tossed it out the side. Altair scratched his left wrist. "That reminds me, where's my hidden blade?"
Asiya jumped again, she had forgotten all about it. She grabbed the bag it was in and handed it back to him. "Please for give me!"
"It's fine." He said casually and put it back on and triggered the blade a few times.
Half way through the trip Asim and Asiya started to worry about him. He remained so quiet and offended stared at one spot with out blinking, the more he did this the more nervous they became when he would randomly active and disengaged his hidden blade.
Altair was thinking about the last six weeks, he was deep in thought about his actions and how stupid he had been, he missed Maria terribly. Even though she sat mer feet away he knew she was still mad at him. He replayed the last moments in his head over and over again, where tears fell from her eyes and yelling how much she hated him. He heard about how much she worried about him when he was unconscious, how she hardly slept the for the first two weeks and sat by his side. He felt horrible and was desperately trying to think of a way to make it up to her.
"Halt! What do we have here?" A Templar Captain smirked at them.
Before any of them could prepare for the fight that awaited them, Altair had jumped out the side and within two minutes he stood over the bodies of the 15 men. The other sat there shocked he had taken them all down with just using his hidden blade.
Altair felt a lot better now, he pent up all the emotions he had for the last two weeks and he could think more clearly. He cleaned his hands on a Templar tunic and looked around. The sun was setting and they were passing throw a rocky cliff area. He walked over to were Maria sat and held out his left hand, his face hidden by his hood.
She looked down at him annoyed. "What do you want Altair?" She saw him tense and remain silent still holding his hand out to her. She sighed and took his hand. He helped her down and they walked several feet away from the caravan. He found a rock that over looked the valley below and sat there. He pulled her to sit in between his legs as he wrapped his arms around her stomach and leaned his chin on her right shoulder. The stood that way for a few moments before he hugged her tight and laid his forehead on her shoulder.
"Please forgive me. I can't bare you being mad at me anymore." He pleaded with her.
She took a few minutes to respond. "Why do you love me?" She asked and felt him tense.
He thought about it carefully. "Because you're able to slap some senses into me and I wouldn't love you any other way." He mused with her. This didn't seem to upset her but he didn't feel like she had forgiven him either. He took a deep breath and closed his eye. "Close your eyes, and I'll kiss you... Tomorrow I'll miss you... Remember I'll always be true... And then while I'm away... I'll write home everyday...And I'll send all my loving... To you..."
She blushed and she turned to stared wide eyed at him, he was starting to blush as he continued.
"I'll pretend that I'm kissing... The lips I am missing... And hope that my dreams will come true... And then while I'm away... I'll write home everyday...And I'll send all my loving...To you..." He was interrupted by the kiss he had been longing for.
After a few moments she pulled away. "I never knew you could sing." She said in disbelief.
"Was I sounding that bad, that you had to stop me?" He mused. He leaned his forehead on her shoulder again.
"No, but I'm starting to wonder if I slapped you to hard." She laughed.
"Am I forgiven then?" He asked.
"Yes" She kissed him on the lips again and they start humming the song on the rock, while watching the sunset over the valley below.