Hello everone! I'd like to welcome you to the first 'Ballerina' (or Leap! depeding on the country of origin you're from) and Assassin's Creed Oneshot, and to my knowledge to first published fanfic based on the film 'Ballerina'.
I sent several request's to the administrators back in March to have a category added for 'Ballerina' which had success when they did, however it hasn't shown up yet due to no postings in it, until now!
Ever since I saw the film back in February in Australia, I fell in love with it ( I saw it 5 times in cinemas) hehehe I guess you could say I was/am obssessed with it, especially since it came out last week on DVD here and I had already pre-ordered it XD
*mini-rant* though one thing that does annoy me, is the US release, I had no problem with them retitling the film 'Leap!' as it's not uncommon for films to have title changes in some countries. But what does really press my buttons and get me annoyed/angry, is the recasting of three roles in the film, that were redubbed over for the US release, one of which being Dane Dehaan's role as 'Victor', he really gave life to the character and did a wonderful job, but for some reason for the US release, they redubbed the character with the voice of Nat Wolffe..why!?.. for what reason!. I could understand re-dubbing into different languages, but where talking redubbing an english voice of an actor, to another english voice of an actor...just makes no sense to me. Especially when Elle Fanning's role as Félicie wasn't redubbed, but Dane Dehaan's Victor was (For no reason!) *mini-rant over*
Phew! sorry about that..at least I am comforted knowing the verion I have on DVD is the original version without the redubbing, and I can enjoy it.
Anyway, this is the first of several fics I have in the works for 'Ballerina' including post-movie fics, some of which are connected, and some stand-alone ones, and more crossovers.
This was originally a oneshot, but I wanted to upload it now, and the ending of this chapter will be continued into the second chapter. This fic takes place in the 1870's, roughly a decade or more prior to the film ( which takes place in the 1880's ) since we're never given an exact date in the film, this chapter could take place before Félicie's birth, as she is 11 in the film.
It features a younger Odette, prior to her injury that lead to her limp, and her being a member of the French Brotherhood of Assassin's.
The name for this fic 'Danse Macabre' comes from the french meaning 'Dance of Death', I thought it fitting due to Odette's past as a Ballerina, and in this fic her past also as an Assassin.
I hope you all enjoy this first chapter.
Also check out my deviantart account ffiamgoku for some Ballerina Fan Art I have commissioned, as well as a commissioned piece for this fic, with Odette in her Assassin's gear, that I will be uploading shortly after this chapter is posted.
Paris
The 1870's
The setting sun was slowly disappearing over the horizon, the sky having taken on an orange hue as the afternoon gave way to the evening. The streets were filled with the hustle and bustle of daily life, men and women traversing to their destination, children running along the way, and the sounds of horse drawn carriages filling the air.
A lone figure however was perched high above the city streets, looking down upon them with interest.
The figure was female, a young woman, garbed in a white shirt that had an upturned collar, this was underneath a blue buttoned up vest with a floral design, it too had wide folded back collars, around her waist she had a red sash tied tight underneath a brown leather belt which had a strap going down her left leg to a holster. She wore tan pants on that were mostly hidden underneath the high black leather heeled boots that reached far up past the knee. This was all underneath a dark green coat that hugged her upper body well, but didn't inhibit her movement, the lapels folded back and had a dark red colour with the green edges, the coat went down to her knees in length and also featured a dark green hood that was currently covering her head and most of her upper face, concealing her identity.
On her hands she wore black gloves that came to just before her elbow, as she moved her hand down a metal attachment could be seen on her forearm, fixed and strapped to the glove, the same device was on her opposite hand.
Her gloved hands came up and removed the hood, allowing her face to be out in the open for the moment as she stepped back from the ledge. The young woman was beautiful, she held a youthful appearance with a peachy tone to her skin, her eyes were a light blue and her dark brown, almost black hair was tied back in a bun that rested on her neck. Her nose had a slightly pronounced bridge, but that did nothing to affect her beauty, her body was thin but she was stronger than she looked.
Reaching down she retrieved a small silver pocket watch that was resting in the breast pocket of her coat, a chain connecting it to her vest buttons. As she opened the watch, her eyes narrowed slightly before she looked downwards towards the streets, searching before closing the watch and placing it back in the pocket, several minutes passed as she kept vigil from above, searching the streets until finally she spotted it.
A carriage suddenly came into view, having turned the corner and now travelling down the street directly below her at an even pace. Reaching up, she raised her hood once more concealing her identity.
That particular carriage was the one she had been waiting for, it was her mission or more specifically it held contained her mission.
She waited a moment as the carriage continued down the street until it was right beside the building she was on, as it went past, she moved. Her intent was to follow the carriage and wait for the opportunity to make her move, knowing that there was only one stop it would make prior to it's final destination. The carriage would stop, and the passengers would transfer their cargo into a second carriage.
As she made her way across the rooftops, keeping the carriage in sight below, she went over the details in her head once again.
'The carriage is meant to arrive at a Templar stronghold, delivering important documents regarding their plans for a political assassination, as well as other goals in the near future. I've got to wait until the make their stop to exchange them to the second carriage before they reach the stronghold, retrieve the documents, and make my escape, shouldn't be too hard Odette' she thought to herself as she continued to trail the carriage from above.
'Oh, and I still have to make it to my later engagement tonight, though that won't be an issue, as soon as my business here is concluded I can head back and get ready' Odette added mentally, referring to her career that wasn't connected to The Brotherhood, one that she took great pride and personal enjoyment from.
Continuing on her path, she increased her speed to a jog as the carriage turned a corner up ahead, leading off the main street and into a back alleyway. As Odette approached the edge of the building she was on, she crouched near the ledge and peered down, not only did she see the alleyway, but a small balcony two stories below, coming out from the building and overlooking the alley.
The carriage came to a slow halt, the driver obviously wanting to get a fair way into the alley to hide them from sight, unaware of Odette eavesdropping high above, she also noted a man dressed in a guards uniform sat beside the driver, one of several she guessed as the passenger inside wouldn't be travelling alone, not with the importance of his task.
She continued to wait, knowing the second carriage would be coming along soon, in the meantime she stood up and slowly climbed over the ledge of the building, her hands gripping onto the stone as she slid down until her feet landed on the top of a windowsill, she then let herself drop, allowing herself to fall until her hands gripped onto the area her feet had been moments before.
A second passed before she dropped down once again, landing onto the balcony she had spotted, with barely a sound.
This gave her a greater advantage as she was now closer to the ground, while still being a fair distance up and out of sight. The balcony having small cement pillars around it, helping hide her from view, while also allowing her to peek through them and down below.
As she did, the tell-tale sound of hoofbeats against the pavement made her turn and see the second carriage travelling down the opposite end of the alley, it's appearance matching the first carriage in design. The second carriage came to a halt several meters ahead of the first, as it did the first carriage's right door opened and a man stepped out.
He was an older man, slightly heavyset build with mostly grey hair with a few lingering streaks of black, his clothing was of an upper class and distinguished style, and his stance and body language suggested he was someone who was used to being in command.
After him, another man stepped out, this one was younger, he had dark hair and more skinny in appearance but dressed no lesser than his fellow passenger, in his hands was a brown leather satchel, that he was holding onto closely.
'There they are' Odette thought, eyeing the satchel as the young man moved away from the carriage, sticking close to the elder man as three more men stepped out of the carriage, they were wearing matching guards uniforms as the man who sat beside the driver.
This was followed by another three uniformed guards stepping out from the second carriage, and one beside the driver, and another old man stepped out, he also bore an air of importance.
He approached his colleague and the two began to exchange words, seemingly they were on good terms and knew each other well from what she could gather.
As she back towards the young man carrying the satchel however, a flicker of movement caught her eye from above. Looking up, she noticed another figure on the building across from her, standing on the roof above, it was a male figure, dressed in a dark ensemble, with a long black coat with a hood that was currently concealing his identity much like Odette's own.
'I was wondering when you'd show up' she thought with a small smile gracing her lips, eyeing her own colleague who merely stepped closer to the ledge, he too peered down at the sight below them before looking back at her, reaching around his belt and retrieving two dark grey spheres.
Odette nodded as she reached down under her coat and pulled out her own matching pair, she then raised three fingers from both of them and slowly lowered them one by one, counting down to zero before she stood up and threw them down into the alleyway bellow, as did her associate.
The instant they hit the ground, the alley became blanketed in smoke, the dark cloudy fog spread as she made her move, leaping down from the balcony and soaring downward.
Sounds of confusion and alarm rang out as she landed with a slight thud, the elder men yelling out orders to secure their cargo amidst a fit of coughing and hacking from the smoke, the guards scrambling to try and make their way through the smog as they too were overwhelmed by it.
Odette moved quickly, making her way to the young man's side, and grabbing the satchel from his hands with her left hand, her right hand moving to his head and slamming it into the carriage, instantly knocking him out cold.
She heard a sudden whistle, and looked to see her associate now sitting in the drivers seat of the carriage she was near and she quickly climbed up on top, scrambling over and dropping with a thud to his side as he gave a firm smack of the reins.
"Hyah!" he cried out as the carriage began to move, darting through the now diminishing smoke screen and towards the exit ahead.
Odette looked back to see the Templar's beginning to regain their senses as the smoke slowly dissipated, she heard the sound of them barking orders at the guards before the carriage darted to the left as they exited the alley, re-emerging onto the street.
They continued at their fast pace as her associate steered them along.
"You were running late, I was beginning to think I'd have to do the ambush myself, Louis" she said with a small smile.
Her colleague,Louis Mérante, a member of the French Assassin's Brotherhood, just as she was,he was two years older than her, he had a tall and thin but toned frame, a fair complexion, and sported dark combed hair and a goatee.
He gave her a smile in return,turning to her slightly as he glanced away from the street ahead.
"It just took me a little longer to arrive than I'd have liked,but I wouldn't have left you to do the mission alone my dear" he replied as he manoeuvred them past another carriage.
"Oh really, like you did that time in England" she said dryly as she moved the satchel to her lap.
"Don't go blaming that on me,it was your fault I couldn't get their in the first place" he replied as he continued to steer the horses along.
Odette was about to respond when the sound of a gunshot was heard, followed by a bullet whizzing past her right ear. Turning she saw the other carriage from the alleyway was now pursuing them,with two of the guards driving it up front, no doubt the others were inside the carriage.
"Seems we have company" Mérante said narrowing his eyes as he gave another crack of the reins and the horses increased their speed once more.
Odette placed the satchel down on the seat between them, before glancing back at the Templar's carriage, it was gaining on them despite their increased speed, Mérante was busy manoeuvring around the obstacles that were in front of them as the Templar carriage came ever closer.
Glancing back in front of them, Odette spotted a turn off down a more narrow street coming up on their left.
"There!" she exclaimed pointing to the upcoming turn. "Take us through their, it'll help bottleneck them"
"And us" Mérante whispered to himself, before complying and making the sharp turn, the carriage lurched to the side slightly from the abrupt change of course, but regained it's equilibrium.
The two now found themselves travelling down a much smaller road then before, one that seemed to be adjacent to many street markets with pedestrian's sprawled throughout.
"Make way!" Mérante exclaimed as the people began fearfully dashing out of the path of the carriage.
Another gunshot rang out once more, which caused the already frighten onlookers to descend into panic. Odette was about to turn back to see how far away they were, but a second later she didn't need to as their carriage suddenly jolted forward violently.
Glancing over her shoulder she saw the Templar's carriage was right behind their own, their horses coming up beside them as they rammed their carriage into them, causing them to lurch once more.
One of the guards in the drivers seat exchanged words with his partner before the Templar's carriage moved up slightly, and Odette saw the guard leap forward onto their own carriage with a thud, the man gripping a hold of the adorning railing atop the carriage and pull himself up.
Odette stood up from her position and turned around to face the man, who was climbing up to the carriage roof.
"I'll take care of this one, you just keep your eyes on the road" she said to Mérante, before moving the satchel closer to his side and stepping atop the drivers seat and up onto the carriage roof herself, the wind brushing against her form as she did.
The Templar guard gave her a dirty look as he reached into his coat and pulled out a knife, advancing towards her as his expression changed to a cocky sneer.
"Your tricks won't work up here, let's see how you like a taste of my blade!" the guard said gripping the knife in his hand.
Odette merely sent a smirk his way, not the least bit intimidated.
"Let's see how you like a taste of mine" she retorted, before with a flick of her wrist the Hidden Blade on her right forearm shot out, the sharp metal piercing through the air and out below her wrist, causing a flicker of surprise and fear to pass through the guards eyes, before his gaze hardened and he swung at her with a growl.
Well there you go, there is chapter 1, stay tuned for chapter 2, coming soon.
And as said above, this is only one of several Ballerina fanfic ideas I have, and am working on, so expect more to come.
If you liked what you read, please be sure to leave a Review, I would love hearing you're feedback, as it always makes my day!