Disclaimer/Claimer: I don't own Assassin's Creed or any of it's characters. Just mine.
A/N: My first fanfic based upon the Assassin's Creed genre and will be featured in the Renaissance era. The plot of this story is quite simple; while out doing an assassination of a local butcher who is killing people for the Templars, Ezio decides to show his baby sister, Claudia, how to do the perfect kill.
The Perfect Kill
Standing just outside of the entrance gate to Florence, Ezio Auditore looked around with a keen eye to make sure that there were no guards in sight. Usually there were two or three stationed just outside the gate, but with the festival that was going on in the city proper tonight he knew that most of the focus would be put there incase there were to be any looting, or murders.
Lucky for him however there was only one guard at the gate so it would be an easy kill for him once he got close enough to the man. Ezio smirked as he ducked behind a stack of hay that was to the right of the guard, before taking cover he'd caught a brief glimpse of the man's face and knew that he was scared out of his wits. Not that he blamed him. Ezio was sure that if he was in the guards position of being the only one there with no backup at all and the impending knowledge of an assassin killing him at any moment, it would scare anyone.
Leaping up onto the beam above him, Ezio climbed it quietly and then crawled over to the ledge so that he would have a clean shot.
Once he was in the right position, Ezio leaped effortlessly from the perch that he was on and came down on top of the guard. He had withdrawn his stealth blade just a brief second before his attack and now was pulling it from the neck of the guard. He retracted it and then smiled sheepishly as he stared down at the dead guard.
"Do you always have to kill the guard?" Came a female voice from above him.
"Ah, come on Claudia." Ezio said childishly. "You know he was standing in our way."
Claudia Auditore rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. We should carry on with this mission while we still have the chance. I'm sure he wasn't the only guard stationed here."
Ezio nodded.
Claudia just shook her head and started through the gate with him following, Ezio loved his baby sister dearly and had considerable doubts about bringing her along for this mission that their zio had sent for them to do. If something were to ever happen to her, he would never be able to forgive himself. But, she was just as deadly with a blade as he was, if not a beat shorter and had proven time and time again that she could easily defend herself.
Walking past a fruit stand, Ezio looked around and felt slightly uncomfortable at noticing how empty the streets were. Although it was the night of a big festival in town, it just spoke to him on a higher level that this was some kind of trap set up to lure the two of them into an ambush.
"What is it?" Claudia asked.
"Something isn't right,"
"What now?" Claudia placed her hands on her hips. "If we don't hurry up and get this done, we might not have another chance. Giräldo Ricci is leaving for Rome tomorrow."
Ignoring Claudia's anguish he moved silently to the end of the street and then looked up the length of the building, a smirk coming to his face.
Before she could even ask what he was thinking Ezio was already climbing up the side of the building, placing his hands carefully in the right spots so that he wouldn't fall or slip. As high up as he already was, a slip would be a very unlucky thing for him. No, instead when he reached the top he waited for Claudia to catch up and then helped her up onto the roof. She was still getting the hang of climbing the buildings, so often he had to help her up.
Standing at the ledge he looked around as he tried to remember exactly where the butcher shop was located at in the city. If his memory served him right, it wasn't that far from where they were. The only thing they needed to do was avoid the guards.
"Templar's," Ezio whispered as he pointed out two guards down below that were dressed in red armor and had swords in their hands.
"Should I take them out?"
Ezio nodded. "Yes, and then place their bodies into that barrel. After you finish that I'll meet you at the destination."
"Consider it done," Claudia replied and then disappeared as she scaled down the side of the building.
"Velocità di Dio." (God Speed) He whispered.
After she was gone Ezio jumped up onto the wooden beam to his right and began walking across it, he was going to use the roof and the darkness of the night to make his way through the town to where he needed to be.
Once across he saw an archer standing at the other end of the building, he hadn't spotted him yet but Ezio was sure that it was only a matter of time before he turned around to see the man standing there. Crouching down he made his way past a small roof garden and walked up behind the archer, he stood up and in an instant was wrapping a powerful grip around the archers head, and twisted. The archer then went limp and fell to the ground.
Bracing himself against the ladder he climbed down it and jogged down the road, where he placed his back against the wall as a group of citizens walked by completely unaware of him.
He could hear musica (music) being played in the background, the laughter of the people as they danced and carried on with the festivities that were taking place. If only they'd known of the horrors that were taking place in their city, no way would they be so calm, nor contempt with celebrating.
Continuing with his run, Ezio jumped up to the wall and found a place for his fingers to grip, then began to climb. Walking in the streets during the festival was probably not a good idea and if he were to do so would probably compromise the mission. Surely the guards would notice him and Claudia.
When he reached the top Ezio ducked behind a stack of crates as a single arrow pierced the ground where he had been standing just moments before. Obviously someone had been trailing him for some time now, there would be no way that anyone would've noticed him except for in the streets. Reaching beneath his cloak Ezio pulled one of his sharpened throwing knifes and dove out from behind the cover of the crates and tossed it swiftly at the archer, it pinned him in the chest and he toppled over, dead.
"Lei possa rimanere in pace." (You can remain in peace) He whispered in respect to the dead archer.
Running across the building he dropped down two flights, landing in a bed of hay and shoulder rolling out of it and onto his feet. Using his momentum he continued with the run and leaped from the ledge of the building, grabbing onto the ledge of the building over and barely avoiding the detection of the guard that was right above him. Unsheathing his blade, Ezio reached up and impaled the man through the stomach and tossed him over the ledge, his body crashing on to a stable below him.
Pulling himself up Ezio let out a haggard breath and stood up, brushing himself off as he stared at the sign across the square roof from him.
Crouching down on the ledge of the building he looked down in the streets and could see two men talking. One was short and fat, he had a clean shaven face and was dressed in black silk, the finest clothing that you could find in Florence. The other man was tall and well built, with a long, thick beard and was bare chested with a scar that ran down the length of the right side of his face.
"Maestro, (Master) I am finally here." The fat one said as he removed his feathered cap to reveal a balding scalp.
"And what took you?" The bulky man said, folding his arms across his chest. "Enjoy the festival did we?"
He nodded. "Yes, very."
"Pascal, do you not realise that that place is just a way to take your money?" The man roared.
"Well," Pascal said nervously. "I suppose."
"Perché uguaglio infastidisca?" (Why do I even bother?) He said in distain.
"But Giräldo, you know how I am about women." Pascal pleaded.
Giräldo stared at Pascal for a brief second before scoffing and walking back into the building with Pascal following behind him. Ezio smiled, he'd found the butcher him and Claudia were assigned to kill and so he lowered himself from the side of the building until he was down in the street.
Looking around, he tried to see if there were any signs of his sister anywhere. Ezio was never the type to wait, but he knew he could handle this man on his own so he was going to go ahead. Although he knew Claudia would be furious.
Walking to the entrance of the butcher shop he tapped softly on the door.
He could hear pounding as someone made their way to the front of the shop and Ezio was already drawing his sword when an axe came flying at him, which he quickly dodged. Staring in the direction it came from, Ezio saw Giräldo standing in the frame of the back door that was past the front of the shop, he wore a sneer on his face and a halberd in his left hand.
"I knew you would be coming soon bastardo," (Bastard) Giräldo spat as he towered over Ezio.
Swinging the halberd high above him Giräldo swung it downward at Ezio who rolled to the right as it smashed through the wooden floor and tore through it like butter. Ezio brought his sword up and attempted to slice open his stomach but was caught by surprise when Giräldo pulled a small blade from his back and blocked his forward advance. Stumbling back he felt pain in his chest as the blade of the knife cut him, but it wasn't a deadly blow of course.
Once he'd freed the halberd instead of using it to slice at him with Giräldo instead slammed it into Ezio's stomach and threw him against the wall. Giräldo let out a snarl as he slammed his free fist into Ezio's stomach hard enough to knock the breath out of him.
Releasing the halberd from his grip, Giräldo grabbed Ezio by his shoulders roughly and tossed him effortlessly across the shop, his body crashing into a bunch of equipment. Coughing, Ezio slowly got to his feet as Giräldo charged across the room like a bull and rammed his shoulder into him, his body connecting with the wall and Ezio felt as much as head a rip crack.
"Ezio!" Came the voice of Claudia as she crashed through the door and tossed a knife at Giräldo, piercing him in the arm.
"Another one!" He screamed in annoyance, pulling the knife from his arm and retreating out the door, throwing Claudia off her feet.
"After him!" Ezio shouted as he stood up, grabbing his sword from the ground and sheathing it before they were both out the door.
Looking to his left Ezio saw a trail of blood going to the left at the end of the road and signaled for Claudia to follow him. Clearing the corner he could see Giräldo not far ahead, he was holding his left arm and shoving people out of his way.
"I'll take to the roof to cover you, get going." Claudia told him as she began to climb the roof.
"Va bene," (It's okay) He replied as he began to give chase.
Running after Giräldo he shoved a musician out of the way and jumped up, grabbing onto one of the poles and swinging forward. Ezio was gathering more momentum as he went along and was quickly caught up with Giräldo and pulled his short blade from his back, slicing the butchers calf and bringing him to the ground as he clumsily fell forward.
"Go ahead," Giräldo spat as he stared up at Ezio. "You fucking vita bassa." (low life)
Having heard enough, Ezio drew his hidden blade and thrusted forward, piercing Giräldo through the throat and out the back.
"Resto in pace," (Rest in peace) Ezio whispered as he laid the slain butcher on the ground.
Behind him Claudia landed silently on the ground, sheathing her dual daggers. She wore a look of irritation.
"And you couldn't wait for me?" She angrily folded her arms across her chest.
"We should get moving," Ezio said softly, placing a soft hand on her shoulder. "I need to get some rest, big mission tomorrow."
"Fine," Claudia pouted.