FF - Assassin's Creed

Achievements and competitions.

Warnings : Sword-Fanatic!Shaun, Fanboy!Shaun
Characters : Shaun Hastings, mentions of Altaïr and Malik, and others.
Summary : Great achievements are impossible without the factor of competition. Shaun ponders about the prodigies of history, as well as Altaïr and Malik. Shaun POV. Drabble/Oneshot


Great achievements were impossible without the factor of competition.

There was Michelangelo and Leonardo, rivals of the Renaissance, and their names were famed as the two most prominent men of their time, innovators in thought and art. There was the Greek philosopher Socrates, who mentored Plato, who in turn taught Aristotle, and they formed the foundations of modern day philosophy and science. Forerunners of high fantasy C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien exchanged letters of thought and discussion, and the poets Percy Byssche Shelly, Lord Byron and John Keats lead the frontier in the Romantic movement. Friendship or otherwise in which their competition could have derived from, Shaun could see the obvious trend in history.

Competition spurred humanity on and drove them to greater heights. It was a force to be reckoned with, because man could not think better and harder if they descended into the comfort of complacency. Competition kept them on their toes and brought about change and he understood that fact. He watched the recordings of Desmond's synchronisations as Altaïr repeatedly, and he marvelled at the beauty of it, because while he didn't understand swordplay as well as he liked, it by no means deterred him from appreciating it.

Altaïr made quick, efficient sword work. Fast stabs and hacks that prevented his opponent from anticipating attacks. He executed his enemies quickly, hasty with raw energy that glowed from him and his blade. He was a hunter that swopped down upon his opponents, surprising them, and ensnaring them in a trap that slew them before they even noticed. He fought with order amidst chaos, with a charm in his flight, and if Shaun would, he could liken his stinging to one of the eagle. Altaïr had a form that wasted no time and effort.

Malik was much different. In the entirety of Masyaf, he was about the only assassin that drew graceful arcs in his swords, dancing against his enemy. He played like a river that flowed so swiftly without hesitation, and cut crescents like the moon with splendour. His steps and swings were polished and refined, not quite delicate but not at all rough, and he fought like a proud white king upon the chessboard, sliding among the throngs of black pawns that were the enemy. There was a genuine style in his movements, like a sleek transition of blows that blinded with elegance, without dramatic flourish and unnecessary brandishing of his sword. Shaun could not find another sword master in all of history who could display such ferocity and strength beneath that grace.

He suspected that their excellence was motivated by the competition between each another. During the review of the codex in Ezio's memories, he smiled in triumph at the mention of a sword style that was created and perfected by two masters of Masyaf, because no two men in the history of the Assassin's order had been as prominent in sword play as they had been. Shaun ponders about the movements in sword that Altaïr and Malik would conceive as a team, and he muses about the beauty beneath the destructive blade he could never see.

Every time he watched the memory replays of Ezio, he couldn't help but feel a pang of shame, knowing he could never witness a blade swing with the combined energy of the Eagle and the refinement of the King, because the sword style of Altaïr and Malik was far lost and gone.