My second fan fic. Please, please, PLEASE review and tell me what you think! I will love you forever if you do! :D Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed (I'm not that awesome). Anything in this story that may be alike to any other work of fiction besides the game itself is accidental, meaning I did not, I repeat, did NOT steal any ideas!
Chapter 1
Before the Brotherhood, I was nothing.
I was but a servant, nothing more, forced to live and toil under the noble Merridici family since I was old enough to speak clearly. For sixteen years slavery was all I knew.
There were certain advantages to serving a noble family, however. I was taught to read and write, but what use was that when your only occupation was as a servant?
I was also taught to defend myself, and how to wield a sword and knife, among other things. When out on the busy streets of Roma, it was often a good idea to have some form of weaponry within easy reach.
My cousin Rodrigo and I also discovered a rather useful way of getting around; by rooftop. Being only lowly servants, guards always enjoyed blaming us for numerous crimes, even if it was obvious to all that we did not commit it. So we started using buildings and other structures to aid in escape. We also used alleyways, crowds, haystacks, and roof gardens to hide in; I often found it very amusing to see the bemusement cross the guards faces as they try (and fail) to find us.
It was getting to the point were we deliberately provoked the guards into giving chase. They were not used to scaling walls and leaping across rooftops, and we had fun watching them struggle to follow, then finally giving up and returning to their posts.
Not a day goes by that I don't remember that day that I was considered worthy to join the Guild. With every kill, every cut caused by my blade, I remember, and I silently thank Master Ezio Auditore for bringing me to serve the cause.
For the well-being of all mankind, for the freedom of all people's will, I serve. I have learned the beauty of the kill, the art that is the taking of one's life for the good of all.
My name is Nilda Voceri de Calesota, and I am an Assassin. This is my story; this is how it all began.
~X-X~
"Run, Nilda! Run!" Rodrigo shouted as several Borgia guards drew their swords and approached. I spun and sprinted towards a nearby wall, using the momentum gained to propel my self up it. Extending one hand, I caught the top edge and heaved myself up, my other hand clutching the apple that I had paid for close to my chest.
"Hurry, she's getting away!" I heard a guard shout below me. I ran across the flat roof top and leapt across the gap of an alleyway to another roof, this one slanted and covered with red stone shingles.
My heart pounded hard in my chest as I fell over the far edge, gripping the gutter tightly before dropping down to grasp a window pane several feet below me. I noticed a tall figure in the corner of my eye standing on a nearby rooftop, but I ignored it and let go, landing on top of a merchant's stall and finally jumped to the ground. The people gathered around the stall jumped back, gasping as I landed among them.
"Is she sane?" A woman whispered. I didn't get to hear the answer because I bolted off in the direction of the Merridici estate. The guards wouldn't dare follow me there without permission from Merridici or his wife. I dodged around civillians crowding the roads, even shoving some out of the way when I didn't see any other guards around. I kept running, even though I was sure I had lost my persuers.
Soon, I could hear no one behind me, and I ducked into a narrow alleyway. Quickly I hid behind a pile of broken, splintering crates, waiting. No guards came. For a moment I sat there, crouched, holding my breath and listening to my heart rate slow, then finally exhaled. There was no need to go any where near the estate yet. There were still a few items I needed to collect for Modonna Merridici; they would have my head if I returned without them. Smiling to myself, I stuffed the apple into my pocket. That I would save for later. I stood and started for the alley entrance.
Too soon.
Rough hands gripped my shoulder and covered my mouth from behind. I gave a muffled cry that was quickly cut short by a cold, sharp blade being pressed against my throat.
"Quiet, now." The person behind me growled. My eyes widened as at least seven Borgia surrounded me.
"Well, what do we have here?" One guard said mockingly. By the looks of his armor, I could tell he was a Captain. "A pretty little servant girl?" The Captain stepped forward and took my chin in his hand, tilting my head as though examining me. The guard behind me removed his hand from my mouth, but I was too frightened to even scream.
The Captain's gaze traveled down my front, with a look that I could see even through his helmet. It was the look that was feared by all women, and the one that nearly sent me into panic.
He stopped suddenly, eyeing my waist. "Oh? What's this?" He reached down and jerked the stilletto from my waistband. "A weapon? Surely a lovely creature as yourself has no use for such things." He jeered while the other Borgia chorlted at my expense,
Fear was replaced by outrage, and I shoved my elbow back into my captor's gut. He grunted and his grip loosened. Snarling, I spun, bringing my fist around to collide -hard- with the man's jaw. His teeth slammed together with an audible click and he fell backwards onto his hindquarters.
The guards yelled in surprise, but the Captain behind me only growled. Before I could react he had me by the wrists. He wrenched my arms behind my back, and I cried out in pain.
"You will regret that." He hissed in my ear while the guard I had attacked picked himself up, wiping the blood from his lip and scowling at me.
The Captain forced me up against a wall. I screamed and struggled, pushing back away from the wall, but he grabbed the back of my head and slammed my forehead into the brick. I saw stars and the world spun, and I heard as well as felt my shirt tear.
Suddenly, the force of the Borgia Captain disappeared, and the next thing I heard was him screaming in pain. His cries were silenced, and the sounds of metal blades colliding replaced them. I whipped around, my head throbbed, but I was too amazed to even be able to register the pain in my mind.
A man in a strange white hood twisted, parried, and slashed at the guards, fighting and fending them off all on his own. I realized he was the figure I had spotted on the rooftop. Had he been following me?
The strange man moved with lightning speed and had reflexes to match. I watched as he gutted one guard then turned and slashed another's throat with a blade that appeared seemingly straight out of his wrist; the Captain lay dead on the ground at my feet, a large hole punched through his neck. Good, I thought. He got what he deserved. Then I saw one guard sneaking up behind the man with his sword raised to strike.
A mixture of disgust and rage filled me at this cowardly act, and I dove for my stilletto, which sat in the dirt a few feet away. I scooped it up and rolled to my feet. I leapt, the thin, elegant blade lifted above my head, and landed on the guard's back. He shouted in alarm and fell forward. Swiftly, before he could have time to retaliate, I slipped my blade into his neck, piercing in the indent just above his collar bone.
The guard made a strangled, gurgling sound, and I felt hot, sticky blood flow in between my fingers as his jugular was severed. His body jerked once, then was still. He was dead. I stood, pulling the stilletto free of the guard's flesh.
The hooded man was just finishing off the last of the Borgia patrol. He turned to me, letting the body fall limply to the ground. He looked at the blood on my hands and knife and at the body I was standing over, and nodded approvingly. He walked slowly up to me and held out his hand.
"The liberation of Roma has begun." He said. Those words I will never forget for as long as I live.
I took his hand, and he grasped mine firmly. Looking up into the shadow of his hood, I met his eyes, and knew that my life as a slave was over, and a new one has begun.
So, what d'you think? Should I continue? Please review and let me know!