Well, I'm back! After about, what was it, a year? Senior year of high school ate up my time and summer was all about me getting a job. But now that I'm steady off in college, I have more time to devote to my writing so I can finally get them all up here! So, here goes! This story takes place alongside the Assassin's Creed I game. Introducing, my OC: Tarja….

"Aaaaah! Stop, please, I am sorry! I am sorry, I am I am!" With a flick of the wrist, a man clothed in white lashed his whip down upon the back of a young woman who was shackled to a cold stone wall, facing its thick hide.

"Infiltrating the Brotherhood," a crack "Impersonating an assassin," a slash "Disgracing our traditions and soiling them with your kind! Haneous!"

"Please! I beg mercy please I beg mercy! I-ahhhh! I am nothing!" the woman screamed as a lash broke the skin on her soft, gentle back. Once beautiful and faithful, now tattered and desperate, the woman began to cry. She cried long and hard and wondered why this turmoil haunted her family. Her brothers' turmoil, one killed, one without an arm. Her father's turmoil, dying with a broken heart at the fault of a foolish, arrogant man, and her mother…

"Please stop!" she begged once more, only to receive a stinging blow of the man's whip to her back again, and again.

One Year Earlier…

"Everyone get back! Back to the castle! Into the castle!" a soldier shouted as he ran up the slopes of Masayaf, waving his arms frantically towards the tall castle at the top of the slopes. Tarja turned her head from the tub of clothes she was scrubbing and gazed in the direction of the soldier in confusion. Tarja's father, Imod, sat on a wooden chair at next to the front door of their home. He turned to Tarja, his dry, long, white beard moving with him.

"Go, Tarja. Go to the castle," he said with a broken voice. Tarja became panicked.

"Father! Let me help you!" Tarja said as she reached for his arm. He pulled it away.

"Tarja no! I said go. Do you understand me? Go, child, go!" he shouted, beginning to stand from the chair while straining. Tarja stood for a moment and hesitated. How could she leave her disabled father to the danger that was quickly approaching. She looked to the city gates only to see a dark-looking man on horseback, lavished with shining armor and an evil face. Behind him was a plethora of soldiers, all in unison, galloping into the city with a dark purpose. She then looked back at her father who was still recovering from standing from the chair. She quickly reached to steady him and held onto his frail arm.

"Tarja!" a voice called from behind her. She turned quickly, her brown braid flailing to her side. It was Altair. He was running, full sprint, towards her. Tarja quickly recognized his intents and turned back to Imod, frantically trying to hurry and help him escape. He grimaced and pulled away from her.

"Leave me! Damn you, child, leave me! Go with Altair now!" he barked.

"Father!" she began before Altair came from behind her and swung her over his shoulder and began to run again as she screamed. Tarja looked up from Altair's back to her father, who stood watching her go, the evil army now getting closer to where her father stood and where she wanted to stand. She felt a rush of emotion overtake her. Why wasn't she there with her father? Why was she not fighting Altair's grasp.

"Let me go! Put me down I say!" Tarja screamed as she got a hold of her bearings. She screamed and shrieked as she banged her fists as hard as she could onto Altair's back. It was no use, his back was hard as stone, and she knew he wasn't in any pain from it. So she stopped and held onto the cloth on Altair's back, and began to cry.

"We have to get to the castle, Al Mualim will know what to do! Stay here with me, Tarja!" Altair shouted as he ran up the slopes and past frantic civilians, some of which would not survive the escape. Tarja barely understood what Altair was saying. Imod was out of sight now, and she could only imagine now what the soldiers would do to him. She tried to stop that thought from growing, but she knew it was true…

Altair and Tarja had made it to the inside of the castle just as the guards began closing the iron gates. Tarja looked in horror at the terrified civilians who would be slaughtered on the spot. They shook the gates as hard as they could, some trying to squeeze in between the bars, desperate for salvation. Tarja clenched her eyes shut and tried to block out the chorale of screams around her. Her only source of comfort now was Altair, she knew she was safe. But it killed her inside that the others were not as fortunate as her. She said a prayer for them.

Altair flung her back around to his front and put her on the ground, making sure she was able to stand. Tarja looked into Altair's eyes with a mix of hate, concern, and comfort. He was certainly no protector of her family. The two looked at each other for a long time, and Tarja spoke,

"Where are my brothers? Where is Malik? And where is Izrail?" she asked, knowing Altair had left Masayaf with them, but had not returned with them. Altair looked steadily into her eyes, captivating her with his rugged stare before he quickly ran off, responding to a soldier shouting for him. Tarja was left amid the scene of absolute terror. Mothers cried for their children, children for their mothers, lovers for their partners. Tarja was left alone, her family gone. She wandered through the scene around her, astounded at her circumstances. There was space underneath the stairs that led up to the palace entrance. She drifted towards them, so desperate to be saved from the horror around her. So desperate to be with herself, and to not be seen, she sat in the cold underside of the stairs and watched from her safe place all the pain and misery surrounding her. All these people were safe behind tall stone walls, but their hearts in danger. Tarja turned away and faced the wall to watch the dancing shadows of the tormented souls behind her, and she closed her eyes. Her only escape was her mind…

"Altair! You nearly caused the death of Malik, you burdened him with a cripple, and the death of his brother, Izrail! You caused the young girl her sanity, and their father his life! Shame to you!" Tarja heard poison dripping from this man's voice as he screamed in anger at Altair's apparent mistakes.

'One of many...and many more to come…' Tarja thought hopelessly for her friend. She felt a kind warmth enveloping her, and smelled her father's scent. For a moment she thought she was back home before Altair came and before she had so much grief of her shoulders.

"What will we do with you, Altair?" the man holding her shouted. It was her brother, Malik. She felt the vibration of his chest and the booming in his voice as he scolded Altair. She still had not opened her eyes and thought it best not to. So they remained closed…

Is this any good? Shall I continue? Is it interesting and make you want to find out what happens? Please review! :D seeya!