Assassin's Creed II characters and references (c) Ubisoft
Kiara and all other OCs (c) me

Crap.

That's all I had to say about the current situation.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, which was pretty fast, but the fact that I had absolutely no idea of where I was going was not helping anything. I shoved my way through crowds of people, trying to loose the men who were chasing me. It wasn't working; I could hear the obscene shouts of my pursuers as they started to close in.

Double crap.

But maybe I should back up a little…

My name is Kiara. It's a weird name, I know, but my mother was a little eccentric. Some people say that's why she disappeared when I was three, leaving my dad to raise me. I don't know, I don't remember much except that mom had a beautiful voice and she loved to sing. Dad was pretty torn up when mom left, but he did his best to raise me.

Dad was the best guy on the planet. I know it was hard for him to raise a little girl all by himself, but in my opinion, he did a fantastic job. We were best friends in just about every sense of the word; there was no one on earth who I loved more than him. I was convinced that as long as I had my dad, everything was going to okay.

That thought died about a year later when we found out that dad had cancer. I was horrified and in denial for the longest time. At first it looked like he might make it with all the chemo and radiation. Even though I knew it was for the best, I hated to see my dad loose his hair and constantly be sick. I had to learn to take care of things on my own, like cleaning the house, fixing dinner, and doing laundry just to name a few.

Dad was a real trooper, never getting depressed or giving up hope. Even when he was sick and weak from the chemo, he always had the strength to smile at me and tell me how proud he was.

For a few, blissful months we thought we had it beat. Then the news came; the cancer wasn't gone, it had just spread throughout dad's body and there was nothing the doctors could do for him.

A fourteen-year-old girl should never have to watch her dad waste away like I did. I stopped going to school, just so I could spend as much time as I could with him, and I cried myself to sleep almost every night.

Dad made arrangements so I would go and live with his brother Dale and his wife Patricia, and I hated the very idea. I didn't want to acknowledge that dad was dying, that I wouldn't have him in my life anymore. Besides, I had never met his brother until about a month before dad's death.

I disliked both him and his wife from the start, and it was obvious they didn't like me. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that they had never approved of dad's marriage to mom because she was a "weirdo".

I nearly came unglued right there in their faces.

The last month of dad's life was probably the worst of mine. He was hooked up to more and more machines until they were the only things keeping him alive. It was Dale who made the decision to "unplug" my dad, and I decided I hated him for using that word. He even tried to keep me out of the room when they did it, and I literally fought tooth and nail to get back in there.

Dad held my hand as the machines were turned off, and he used the last of his strength to smile at me one last time.

"Remember, Kiara, I'll always love you."

Then he was gone.

I only got fifteen more minutes with my dad before Dale dragged me from the room. I was too shell shocked to fight; it was the worst day of my life.

The next couple weeks flew by. Dad was buried, our house and just about everything in it was sold, and I moved in to my new "home" with what few possessions I had been allowed to keep.

My life was nothing short of hell after that. Dale and Patricia had agreed to take me in only because it made them look good, but behind the scenes, they could have cared less about me.

They made me go back to school, griping about the fact that I was now behind. The school was different than what I had gone to originally, and there were very few people there who I could call friends. The preppy girls loved to make fun of my name in front of everyone, but I learned to ignore them and the taunting laughter from everybody else.

Two years passed, and I had made it to my sophomore year. My life hadn't changed much, except for the fact I now had a good friend that always had my back. Tasha was awesome in just about every way; she was smart, friendly, athletic, pretty, and popular. Why she decided to be friends with me is a mystery, but I loved her for it. I ended up spending just as much time at her house as I did at mine, and it was so much more pleasant.

Her brother was a video game nut, and had a mind-boggling amount of games he was either playing or had played. His latest obsession was Assassin's Creed 2, and every time I was over there, he was playing it. I never paid much attention, but it seemed pretty cool.

At this point I was starting to look at colleges, but I had no idea how to pay for it. Asking Dale and Patricia for help was laughable at best, and I knew the money dad left behind for me was going to be long gone by the time I was old enough to get it legally.

So there I was, sixteen years old and it looked like I wasn't going very far in life.

But that was all about to change.

It started out as a regular day for me. Get up, go to school, hang out with Tasha, and go home. I was walking back to Dale's house when it showed up. I swear that thing appeared on the sidewalk out of nowhere. It was a golden ball a little bigger than my hand.

I stared at it for a little while, trying to figure out how in the world I had missed it, and then I picked it up without thinking. As I looked closer, I had to laugh because this golden orb looked like that Piece of Eden thingy that was so important in one of the video games I had watch Tasha's brother play. My laughter died away lamely when I realized that it looked a lot like the Apple…

As if my thoughts had triggered something, the ball began to glow and then light shot out of it too fast for me to drop it. I was blinded and threw my arms up around my eyes just in time to realize that I was no longer standing.

Am I…floating?

I didn't have time to continue that thought either. I suddenly felt like I was being sucked down faster and faster until my feet hit the ground and I gasped out of shock. My eyes shot open, blinking rapidly until I could focus again.

What I saw made me freeze.

Wide, cobbled stone streets stretched in every direction, bordered in by square buildings of different colors. People milled about in Renaissance-era clothing, seemingly oblivious to my sudden appearance, talking in a language I couldn't understand, but identified to be Italian.

ITALIAN? What the heck is going on?

Suddenly, something began to change. The words floating around me became less and less foreign until I could understand everything. I backed out of the street, terrified. I didn't know what was happening to me and I certainly didn't know where I was. My ever-working mind was making the connections between my current location and the locations from a certain game…

I shook my head violently. No, this couldn't be happening. Stuff like that only happened in fiction…right?

Among the many things clamoring for my already strained attention was the sensation of getting very warm. I looked down and gasped again. Gone were my T-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes; they had been replaced by lightweight leather breaches, tall boots, and a light green shirt with long sleeves. It wasn't too tight, which I appreciated immensely, but it was kind of flattering at the same time.

A low laugh caught my attention immediately, and I looked up only to have my heart jump for the umpteenth time. Standing not far away was a group of men, and every one of them was looking at me.

I swallowed hard, not liking the way they were looking me up and down. One of the men, wearing a funny hat and short cape, pushed himself off the building he had been leaning against and gave me a rather nasty grin.

"Well, well. What do we have here? A woman in men's clothing?"

The man, obviously the leader, started forward. "Looks like someone needs to learn their place,"

Whatever sense I had left suddenly vacated and I turned and ran, too terrified to do anything else. I heard the leader shout, which only made me run faster. I darted in between startled people, ignoring their protests as I tried to loose that seedy bunch. I wasn't having much luck.

As I ran blindly, my ponytail bounced looser and looser until whatever was holding it slipped off completely and my hair fell around my shoulders. I pushed it back frantically, hoping to high heaven I could get out of this mess.

Suddenly one of the men appeared in front of me, and I immediately turned to the right and ran down an alley, realizing too late that it was a dead end. I whipped around, heart pounding, to see the rest of the group file into the entrance, blocking off any hope I had of escape.

I back up until I hit the wall, wishing I could melt right through it. The leader stepped forward and folded his arms.

"So…where do we begin?"

I was seriously considering making a run for it when a red blur jumped down from the rooftops and took out two of the men. The others began to back away and I could see the newcomer clearly.

He was a young man, fairly tall, with swept back brown hair. He was wearing a vest and shirt that showed off a fair amount of his chest.

"Still bullying the women, eh Vieri?" He growled.

The leader, Vieri, sneered, "And what are you going to do about it, Auditore?"

The man didn't answer, but caught the nearest thug with a wicked right hook. Everything happened so fast after that. One minute I was surrounded, the next all of the men were either unconscious on the ground or running away. Vieri took a moment to shake his fist at my rescuer as he escaped.

"Next time, Federico! Next time!"

"Stronzo," (a**hole) The man spat before turning to me, and I saw that he had beautiful hazel eyes.

"Are you alright, signorina?" He asked with genuine concern.

I realized that I was still plastered to the wall and managed to peel myself away, only to find I was shaking so hard I had to steady myself.

"I-I think so…" I stammered.

The man walked over and gently took a hold of my arm. "Come, we must leave before those bastardi return,"

I could only nod dumbly as he led me out of the alley.

"What is your name, signorina?" He asked, once we were out on the road.

"Kiara," I replied.

The young man chuckled. "I have never heard of such a name,"

I managed to smile a little, "You're not the first to say that,"

"Well, Kiara, my name is Federico Auditore."

"Pleased to meet you," I said, wondering why that name was so familiar, "and thank you for saving me. Who was that?"

Federico scowled, "Vieri de' Pazzi. He thinks he owns Florence just because his father is a well-respected figure. Kiara, are you all right? You're very pale,"

I had every reason to be. I was in Florence, Italy? What was going on?

Federico put his hand on my shoulder. "Per favore, allow me to walk you home. It would be against my honor to let a beautiful woman such as yourself to be alone."

Even in my shocked state, I couldn't help but flush. No one had called me beautiful before except my dad. But that didn't solve anything, because my home was thousands of miles away!

"I don't live here, Federico," I said, my voice shaking.

"Then surely you have family in the area?"

"No," I nearly choked, "I don't know anyone here."

"Then why—"

"I don't know!" I buried my face in my hands, "I don't know…"

Federico looked at his companion with growing concern. Clearly she was distraught and her run in with the Pazzi hadn't helped anything. But the fact that Kiara didn't even know why she was in Florence made him wonder if she was fully sane. However, he had seen no indication that the young lady had lost her mind.

Federico remembered his father's words to always be watchful, so he took a moment to study Kiara. She had to be about five years his junior and, judging by her fair skin and light colored eyes, she was of European decent. Her clothes, however, were curious. He had seen women wear pants before, but it was frowned upon as "improper", especially in the higher classes. He saw no harm in it, but women and their love for fashion was over his head.

So what was he to do? He couldn't just leave her here.

Federico gently pried Kiara's hand from her face, and couldn't help but admire her blue-gray eyes.

"I have a solution. I will take you to my home,"

Kiara wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and pushed her long hair from her face. "I don't want to be a problem—"

"Nonsenso, bella," Federico admonished, "my parents will not mind."

"Are…are you sure?"

"Sí. Come on,"

Nonsenso, bella - Nonsense beautiful

A/N - Okay, this is my first fanfiction that I've actually submitted for public viewing, and I'm nervous but excited. Just so you know, I've started the story a few months before Ezio's fight with Vieri, mainly because there's a few things I want to establish first.

Any and all comments/reviews/critiques are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

~TKD Dragon