There was a sudden scuffling from the entrance to the Brotherhoods headquarters. Two older assassins dragged a younger assassin, still a progressing novice, to the main doors. Al Mualim stood in the door way surrounded by other assassins. More assassins were gathering silently to see what was happening.
"What is the meaning of all this?" He asked as the young assassin struggled about, assessing the restraints of the two elder assassins. There was a pause. "Our fastest progressing novice, skills better than we've seen in someone so young. The youngest assassin yet for that matter. I repeat, what is the meaning of this?" He peered under the hoods of the three in front of him.
"Al Mualim. We have discovered something about this... Assassin." The man looked over to the other who nodded to him. "This novice is not what they seem, he is in fact..." He was cut off. Al Mualim held up his hand silencing him.
"Altair. You have returned." He nodded to the hooded man who joined the edge of the group.
"Whats going on? Kay?" Altair addressed the young assassin. He looked up from the hood he wore, green eyes piercing out from the shadows the hood cast. He looked down.
"Well, continue." Al Mualim commanded with a nod. The men again looked to each other.
"This boy we have trained as a novice assassin, that we know as Kay," He again stopped talking, not sure of his motive for telling.
"Speak up. We haven't much time to deal with such issues unless they are of importance." Al Mualim could see the men around him itching to leave, now board with the interaction.
"Kay is a female." The accompanying assassin blurted.
The men stood in silence for a few moments. Al Mualim pushed the hood on the young assassins hood back. They had short muddy blonde hair that was growing slightly long leaving them with the beginnings of a floppy fringe. Al Mualim looked at the assassin in front of him.
"This is certainly perplexing..." He thought out loud.
"There is nothing perplexing about this Al Mualim. She cannot be an assassin." A man said coldly beside Al Mualim, stern faced underneath his hood.
"This takes more thinking than this." Al Mualim turned and began to walk back inside. The men around him parted and began to disperse. "Bring the.." He faltered "Bring our young assassin." He finished.
"Altair, you brought her here. Did you know that he was a she?" There were only a few men left in the room along with Al Mualim who's arms were crossed tightly. The girl stood on the other side of the desk, her hood sitting on her shoulders. Altair stood next to Al Mualim along with two other assassins. Altair stood silently looking at her. "Altair, did you know?" Al Mualim raised his voice slightly. Altair sighed.
"Perhaps I may have known." Altair said, pacing around. Al Mualim unfolded his arms, leaning on the table with both hands.
"You brought a girl into all of this." He waived his arm in an elaborate action.
"She has shown the greatest promise of anyone here. The youngest assassin with the greatest potential. So what if she happens to be a girl. Who else knows except the other members of the creed?" Altair stopped walking.
"She cannot remain a member of the creed. She has been let into information that cannot be let off lightly. She can't walk away." Kay was still stood silently on the other side of the desk. She hadn't said a word yet, hadn't said anything since joining the brotherhood in order to keep her identity a secret. "How did you even find her?"
A few years before
Altair walked through the town, his head down, hidden blades ready to strike. He walked with purpose knowing where he was heading, the towns layout embedded in his mind. He turned down a side alley and with a simple leap began climbing an old wooden ladder leading him to the rooftops of the town. For a second he let the breeze brave enough to enter his hood brush his face before taking off running. The people below never saw him, nor the other assassins unless they wanted them too. He stepped down, crouching on a low beam, shimmying along slower than he would usually to survey the dirty street below. A guard wandered under him and for a second he considered jumping down to plunge his hidden blades into his side, stopping himself only because it would waste too much time.
He was there. Crouching on the roof he looked down on the edge of a roof of a courtyard. Looking down he could see a man walking about, his target. He dropped silently to the ground in the centre of the courtyard, behind the man. In a few seconds he flicked out his hidden blades slamming them into the mans sides. He let out a slight grunt before falling to the ground with a thump. Altair stood over him momentarily, looking at the lifeless body of the man the brotherhood had sent him to kill.
He turned to leave the way he had entered, again pausing for a moment sensing someone behind him. He spun lightening fast to face a girl, looking down at the dead body of the man. She had appeared around the door frame as he had turned away. She was unlike the others that lived in the town, her green eyes and muddy blonde hair reaching just below her shoulder blades made her stand out. For a moment they looked at each other. Altair wanted to disappear, dealing with bereaved family members was not a strong point of his or any member of the creed for that matter. She moved faster than he thought she would, producing a blade from a fold in the dress she wore. Moving with purpose she ran at him.
He held the girl pinned to the wall. She had more talent than many of the novice assassins they were training.
"Who are you to him?" Altair asked as the girl kicked out. She remained silent staring harshly at him. "Who are you to him?" He repeated loudly. In a last ditch attempt she pushed him back with her foot sliding down the wall diving away from him. She lunged for the blade he had fought from her. Altair pinned her to the ground holding both her arms down.
"I am only a servant." She said, fighting her arms free and failing.
"Why would 'only a servant' fight an assassin?" Altair pinned her to the ground more forcefully not trusting to let her get away again. For a moment she thought of fighting again, but she realised quickly that even if she got her arms free Altair's weight would keep her pinned down.
"He was my master. I have to make it look like I cared don't I?" She asked, wriggling slightly.
"How do you fight so well?" Altair asked loosening her grip slightly on her arms.
"I don't know. It just happens." She said, tearing her arms from his grip but keeping them in his full view. Altair considered pinning them to the ground again, deciding to trust in his weight on her. Altair thought for a few seconds.
"Whats your name?" He asked finally.
"Kayley. What about you?" He thought for a second, 'Kayley'. It wasn't a name from the area, the country even.
"Altair." Another few seconds of thought. "I'm going to get up. You're not going to do anything stupid are you?" She shook her head. Altair rolled off her, allowing her to sit up. He remained sitting on the floor with her. "What do you have now? What will you do?" He asked. Usually he couldn't care less about the aftermath of an assassination, but this was different. Kayley looked around for a second as Altair stood up.
"Leave. Travel maybe." She thought aloud standing up taking Altair's outstretched hand. She looked over her dead employees body once again. "I owe you nothing now." She said, walking to lean on a wall. "Why would you care?"
"We need a new assassin. An assassin with real skill, real talent." Altair began to pace around.
"Assassins are male, Altair." She gestured to her long hair and dress. "I'm no male in case you haven't noticed." Altair laughed softly.
"Disguise. We disguise you as a boy joining the assassins." He stopped in front of her. "What about it, Kay?"