Is This Really Happening?...

Chapter 2

Author's Note: Well I did it, Chapter 2 is now here and finished. I welcome comments, ideas, and suggestions as well as opinions. Please enjoy the story.

Disclaimers: I do NOT own Assassin's Creed. Ubisoft does, Now without further ado on with the story.

Altair took Sophia to the hall, so she could get some food. Altair knew he would have his hands full training the novice. He just hoped she wouldn't complain about the training he was planning to put her through. He would make her see she wasn't meant to be an Assassin.

"Novice, hurry up. We have a long day ahead of us in training tomorrow. We begin at sun rise," Altair growled from his spot by the door.

Everyone looked between Desert Storm and Altair, eyeing her with pity, knowing the novice was in for hell.

"You're new here, aren't you?" a man said, sitting down beside her. She turned her head slightly to look at him.

"Yes I am, but who are you?" Sophia asked.

"Oh how rude of me. I am name is?" Malik asked, looking at her fully.

"I'm Desert Storm, Altair is training me," She said, making sure her hood covered her face. She wasn't sure how Malik would take to a women being an Assassin.

"Well good luck if Altair is training you, you'll need it,"Malik said, his voice straining in anger and went back to his food.

She stared at him, surprised to hear such vehemence in his tone. "Do you not like him?" she asked, turning away from him, inspecting the bread that lay in front her, not feeling hungry anymore.

"You could say that, Novice. All I can say is good luck -you'll need it," Malik said bitterly, finishing his food and getting up to leave. As he stood, he gave her shoulder a firm squeeze, and left the hall. He glared intensely at Altair as he passed him.

Desert Storm watched Malik walk out of the room, sighing heavily. She got up and grabbed the bread, for a later time. She walked over to Altair, noticing that he was now glaring at her instead of Malik.

"Ready Novice?" Altair asked, his gaze drilling into her.

"Yes I am. I really do need some rest," she stated, walking to the door while she avoided looking into his eyes. She couldn't help but wonder what he looked like without his hood on-considering he never removed it.

They walked down the halls to where their rooms were. Altair stopped at one of many doors that lined the hallway and pushed it open, waving his hand towards the interior.

"This will be your room, mine is next door. Be ready by sun up, we will begin your training after breakfast," Altair said, as he opened the door beside her. Desert Storm sighed, shaking her head she walked into her room and closed hers as well.

The room's stone walls gave it an eerie and disconnected feeling- the masonry was chilly and she could feel it even through her sneakers. It was sparsely decorated, but then again, that was normal for the era. A bed rested against the far wall, its rickety wooden posts barely able to hold its weight up. Worn sheets were tossed on top of the bed and Sophia cringed in disgust.

A single candle, atop the desk in the opposite corner, illuminated the room with a soft glow and she smiled fondly, glad for the familiar sensation. She gave a small sigh as she walked over to bed looking at it in disgust and wondered if had even been cleaned or not.

She grabbed the sheets, hoping to make the bed and room a little more cleaner than it was when she first walked in. But for now, she decided to only make the bed and deal with the rest later. After all, she knew she was in for one hell of training session with Altair.

If Malik was right, she would need sheer luck just to get past the first day. She sighed as she fixed the bed, lost in her thoughts about what would happen if everyone knew she was a woman who was training to become an Assassin-training to become a Novice at that.

Maybe she could get Malik to help her along the way and not always have Altair train her. Finally, she sat down on the bed, resting her elbows on her knees, as she looked around the room.

Man, I still need to dust if I'm going to be staying here for the long run, she thought to herself.

She quickly shook her head, laying back with her arms folded behind her head, as she stared up at the ceiling in deep thought. She couldn't help but wonder what tomorrow would bring when she began her training with Altair. She knew she would be as good as the rest of them and had no worries, but something still didn't sit right since meeting the old man.

It felt like he was hiding something, something huge.

She just had no idea what it was. She closed her eyes, falling into a light sleep, feeling that Altair would either spring a trick on her or plan something unusual on her. She awoke before the sun kissed the horizon, sitting up on her bed, and she stretched her arms upwards, giving a small moan as she felt her back pop.

She looked around the room, shaking her head in disgust once more. She got up, dusting herself off, and walked over to the door. She opened it and stepped out, looking up and down the hall. It was empty still since it was so early, the entire fortress was cloaked in silence

She walked over to the Altair's door and knocked. His door swung open unexpectedly and she blushed, quickly averting her eyes. He had answered it half-naked.

"So you're awake Novice, I have to say I'm impressed. I didn't think you would be up this early," Altair said, as a small snort filled with disdain came from him.

She glared at him and asked, "Well are we going to train? Because if we are, you better put on some clothes."

She kept her eyes focused on his, avoiding looking anywhere else. She'd already seen him far too exposed.

"Yes we will be, I just need to finish getting ready," Altair said, shutting the door in her face, a sly grin in place. She snorted and took a step back, leaning next to the door. Her arms crossed over her chest as she waited for Altair to finish.

She looked up at the ceiling and wondered what the training would be like, whenever they got around to it. His door finally opened and Altair, now fully dressed, walked out.

"Finally ready, I see," She said, teasingly, not sure what to make of the man who clearly wanted to be anywhere but there and stuck training her.

Altair glared at her before turning away and walking down towards the main hall, where breakfast was being served. Desert Storm followed behind, glaring heatedly at the back of his head.

"You do realize I still need my robes," she said in much disdain.

"I am well aware of that Novice, we will get the robes after we have eaten," he muttered, walking into the hall and grabbing an apple, as well as some water.

"Eat quickly, we have much to do before lunch," Altair stated, taking a bite of his apple.

As she ate, she spotted Malik walking into the hall, and a small smile graced her lips as he walked over to her.

"Ah Desert Storm. Nice to see you again," Malik said, a slight grin on his lips. He reached for a small roll, tearing it into small pieces and chewing on them silently, as he stood apart from Altair.

"Like wise Malik, how are you this morning?" Desert Storm asked,

"Not too bad, I slept well. And you?" Malik inquired, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes.

He noticed he was still unable to fully see her face. He wondered why her hood was always up; they were among brothers and should be able to trust each other.

"Pretty good, for being my first night here," Desert Storm said, noticing that he was still staring at her, trying to see her face.

She quickly looked away-she didn't want him seeing her face just yet.

Malik looked ahead and asked, "Where do you come from, if you don't mind me asking?"

She gulped, not sure what to say, and looked to Altair for help.

"Let's go Novice, I want to get this done and over with," Altair said in disdain, throwing the apple core away and walking out.

Sophia sighed heavily, feeling Malik squeeze her shoulder in reassurance. She gave him a small nod and hurried to catch up with Altair, seeing that he had already made it to the training ground.

She ran up to him, barely even panting, once she stood before him. She stared into his eyes, waiting to see what he would do first.

"First, we need to get your novice robes, then we will train. Follow me," he said, traipsing off to another part of the grounds, not particularly caring if she followed him. She shook her head and hurried after him.

He handed the white robes to her and said, "Go change, then come back here once you're in your robes. We will begin your training then."

She nodded and headed off to an empty room, hastily stripping and changing into her robes. She couldn't help feeling excited to start her training. She exited the room in her robes, a small smile on her lips, as she walked over to Altair. She felt ready to finally begin learning.

Before she knew it, a wooden stick was flying towards her face. She reached up reflexively and caught it in her hand as Altair rushed towards her. The next thing she was aware of, was Altair striking her. She jumped backwards smoothly, dodging his attack perfectly, and swiftly struck him back.

She gazed up at him, her eyebrows furrowed and her stare intense, as their wooden swords clashed against each other. As they fought, they hardly noticed the others gathering around the grounds, outside the fence that confined them. They were so focused on gaining the upper hand on each other.

As they continued to find weak spots in each other's defenses, Desert Storm never noticed the one person who was watching her especially closely, as they fought.

Malik stood there, observing her, as she fought against Altair. He had no idea she could wield a sword so well. Her movements were incredibly natural, as if she had done this her entire life. The wooden sword worked as an extension of her arm, and her feet gracefully stepped around the ring, never once faltering in her movements. As he watched her closely, he had a hard time discerning if she was truly a female or a male. His heart raced as she narrowly dodged a few close calls.

Desert Storm stopped long enough to catch her breath, feeling sweat drip down her forehead as she watched Altair closely. She couldn't risk looking away from him, knowing he would likely pull some kind of trick. Altair glared at her, not expecting her to do better than him. He decided that it was time to pull out one of his last tricks and jumped in the air, using the sun to blind the woman. He was hoping to gain the advantage he needed to end this battle.

Because of the sun, she didn't see him until it was too late, and he brought his sword down and hit her in the shoulder, forcing Desert Storm to her knees. She narrowed her eyes up at him in irritation. It was one thing to be bested by your teacher, but to know that she'd been tricked by something so unoriginal-it made her grit her teeth in frustration at herself.

"Admit defeat and I will let you rise, Novice," Altair said, glaring down at the girl.

She snarled at him and hung her head in defeat.

"I yield," she muttered angrily, looking up at him from under her lashes..

Altair gave her a sly grin, taking a couple steps back, letting her get off the ground. She got up, brushing the dust and grime off of her pant's and she narrowed her eyes once more, before walking away from Altair. She was so caught up in rehashing their battle that she didn't notice there was someone following her. Altair watched the man with hawk-like eyes as he trailed after Desert Storm, suspicion written all over his face.

She sat down and sighed heavily, as she ran a hand down her face.

Her mind was clouded with thoughts of Altair. In addition to his little trick with the sun, her thoughts were probably equally at fault for causing her to lose the battle. All she could see, were images of his bare chest and his incredibly chiseled jaw. She'd been caught off guard when he'd come out of his room like that earlier and found it difficult to shake the visuals.

It didn't help that he also had an incredibly deep, rumbling voice. Every time he spoke, whether it was in disdain or sarcasm-considering she'd never heard him say anything while he was happy-shivers ran down her spine at the huskiness of his tone.

She closed her eyes and shook her head again, trying to rid herself of those thoughts.

She knew it would do her no good. As she reflected on her training, she felt someone sit down next to her. She looked up and saw Malik.

She wrung her hands together, unsure of why he'd come to find her so soon after they'd spoken this morning. She made sure she kept her face hidden from him when she asked, "What brings you here Malik?"

"Where did you learn to fight so well?" He asked, glancing sideways at her.

"My father taught from a very young age, how to defend myself, in case I ever needed to."

She looked up at him a small smile on her lips as she stared into his eyes, only now noticing their golden color that reminded her of the most beautiful topaz gems

"You are incredibly strong, both inside and out. How unexpected…" he murmured under his breath, as he stared intensely at her.

He leaned in slowly, tentatively, and she closed her eyes expectantly. His warm breath feathered across her lips, letting her taste his sweet scent. She gripped the stone underneath her tightly, and she felt his lips press gently against hers...

Author's note: well I hope everyone enjoyed it. Please tell me how I did.