Chapter One
Ezio woke with a start at the sound of an eagle screeching outside of his bedroom window. He hurried over to the window and noticed that it was pouring rain. The eagle was still screeching and began tapping its beak against the glass frantically.
"Naja be quiet!" He hissed, opening the window hurriedly.
The eagle fluttered in and landed on the desk in the corner of the room. She was still making quite the racket.
"Naja!" he cried. She stopped at the sound of her master's cry and shook the water from her feathers. Ezio sighed and grabbed one of the sheets from his bed. He brought it over to her and began to dry her off as best he could. "Mi dispiace Naja, I'd forgotten to keep the window open for you," he said, rubbing her left wing dry. She let out a small cry and blinked at him. He smiled at her and finished drying her off. "Come on, it's getting late," holding his arm out, she obediently fluttered onto his hand.
He crossed the room and set her down on the perch he'd made for her. He closed the window, avoiding the small puddle that had formed from the rain when he'd opened it. He'd clean it up later. He settled back into bed to finally get some sleep.
He awoke when he heard someone knocking on his room door. He sat up with a groan and wiped the sleepiness from his eyes.
"I'm up, what is it you want?" He bellowed, when the knock once again sounded.
"We need to talk, meet me downstairs!" Machiavelli answered, sounding flustered. He heard Machiavelli's footsteps fade away down the wooden staircase that led to his room.
He dressed quickly and looked over at Naja, whom was still on her perch looking alert.
"Well, are you coming?" he asked, opening the door. She chirped and fluttered up onto his left shoulder. He smiled and walked down the steps to the main room where Machiavelli was pacing. "So what is it?" He asked.
"Someone has stolen my wallet!" Machiavelli exclaimed angrily.
"...That happens to a lot of people Nicc-"
"It's happened a lot lately and mostly to the assassins!"
"How is that possible? Have we tracked down-"
"No we haven't; however, we aren't the only ones with thief problems. It seems the templars are in an uproar as well. It seems they have been visited by the same thief,"
"Is this thief after the apple?"
"We do not know yet, it appears this thief is only after money at the moment,"
"Contact La Volpe immediately he-"
"That will not be necessary," a third voice announced. La Volpe stepped down the stairs that lead to the front door of the Assassin headquarters. "We haven't been able to gather any information on the identity of the thief as of yet, but we are working on it. I have spies placed throughout the city as well as the countryside."
"Bene, have you been able to locate Leonardo yet?"
"He was spotted on his way to the marketplace from the Castello not one hour earlier." Ezio nodded.
"I'm going to a pay a little visit to our old friend," he turned and headed up to the entrance.
Once outside, he headed towards the most popular marketplace in Roma. He knew of a few stalls which sold objects that would likely be of interest to Leonardo; this would be the most likely market for him to visit.
Twenty minutes later he arrived at the market. Ducking into a side alley, he climbed his way up to the rooftops to get a better view of the people there. Naja had flown up ahead and landed on his shoulder once he reached the top.
He looked down amongst the crowd. Hopefully Leonardo hadn't made his way out of the marketplace yet. There were patches of guards everywhere, but one group in particular seemed to be escorting a man to various stalls. It looked like Leonardo. Why on earth was he being escorted by guards? Ezio had heard news that his old friend was in Roma, but he did not know why.
"That's him there!" He reached for Naja with his right hand. She hopped down onto his gloved hand and looked at him attentively. "All right, I'm counting on you to lead him away from the guards Naja, can you do that for me?" She whistled and looked down at the crowd. "That man there," he pointed to Leonardo. He was still sporting his red hat, which coincidentally, made him easier to spot. Naja surveyed the crowds and chirped when she saw the target Ezio was pointing out. "But where to lead him? I do not want him coming to the headquarters if he is followed..." he looked around and spotted the colosseum about thirty minutes away. Fifteen if he managed to sprint the entire way. "Naja," he called, getting her attention. He pointed to Leonardo, and then to the colosseum in the distance. "Get him alone," she whistled again. He smiled and stroked her beak. "Go on," he thrust his hand up and watched as she lifted off.
She angled her wings and dived down towards Leonardo. The guards had moved into a diamond formation around him to walk to another stall. They were shoving anyone whom happened to be in their way. It seemed they were eager to leave.
Leonardo emerged from the diamond a little nervously and spoke to the shopkeeper. Naja let out an ear piercing screech and extended her talons towards Leonardo. Ezio's breathe caught for a split second, thinking she had misunderstood and that Leonardo was her target to harm. She swooped down and caught Leonardo's hat in her talons swiftly and gracefully. People started screaming and the guards were completely shocked.
"My hat! No! Come back!" Leonardo cried, running after her. The guards immediately gave chase; shouting swears and cries of protest.
Ezio smirked. His eagle was certainly a clever one. Naja would be fine; he knew she could take care of herself. He stood and ran across the roof tops towards the colosseum.