Disclaimer: Would you really believe me if I said I owned Assassin's Creed? Really? Didn't think so.
Chapter 2
This was beginning to feel like déjà vu for Tani. The morning, or at least she was making an educated guess that it was morning, bought with it a sense of disorientation. She once again failed to pin point exactly what it was that woke her up as remnants of a strange dream still floated in her mind, the blazing sun was making her uncomfortably hot, the sounds from the street below imitated an angry bee hive, and there was some weird grunting and giggling coming from very close by- which she chose to pointedly ignore. And then there was the severe discomfort of passing out on the floor.
"Two nights in a row is criminal." She mumbled, not bothering to open her eyes. It was much worse than the previous night, this time Tani couldn't even remember when, where or how the night began. The least her friends could have done was put her to bed if she was so wasted, unless- "Jess!" she tried yelling her sudden thought, but managed only a croak, "you better not be doing what I think you're doing in that bed!"
She was rewarded with a distinctly male grunt to which she inwardly cringed. She cringed even more when she moved, every bit of her body was painful, everything! "The inconsiderate gits." She continued to mumble under her breath, it was as though it was the hardest thing in the world to get her safely and comfortably back to the hotel instead, by the feel of her body, they not only dumped her on the floor, they did so in front of an open window with the blazing sun.
Tani was slightly smarter this morning, at least she thought so, she turned her head into her arms before cracking her eyes open. The comfort of shielded light allowed her blurry eyes to adjust.
She noticed the smell first, it was a mix of dirt, dust and a world of smells she couldn't describe. Tani groaned and buried her head further into her arms pressing her eyes into her skin till she saw patterns forming from the pressure. They were going to get into so much trouble for trashing their room. It was this thought that brought her attention to the texture of the floor she was lying on, it at least explained where the dirt smell came from, it felt like fine sand type dirt was imbedded in the carpet.
"Guys! What the hell happened last night? We're going to be sent packing on the next available flight back home for this!" Tani's yelling was still hoarse, but it got her irritation across. Though she only got that grunting mans giggle in response and it sounded like he was panting. "Creep." She said with a shudder.
Exasperation now fuelling her, and with strategies for damage control forming in her head, Tani rolled onto her back and allowed herself a much needed stretch that aggravated her very sore body. She persisted anyway, stretching her arms above her head, toes pointing till they cramped and making a mewling sound as even her throat joined the morning ritual. Relaxing back she allowed herself a very unladylike yawn as she opened her eyes.
The yawn died instantly.
Tani blinked once, blinked twice, and even a third time. But no matter how many times her eyes reopened the same image was in front of her. Clear blue sky with very white fluffy clouds and a hot sun framed by what looked like it could have been a very small room, but there wasn't any roof and the frame of said room was made from…was that wood?
Sitting up cautiously and frowning, Tani looked around herself, eyes darting from one point to another with nothing they could land on that made any sense. She noticed it wasn't carpet that she was lying on at all, it was in fact dirt. The angry beehive of people seemed to be just beyond that…that tarp?
'I've been drugged!'
The thought bounced around in head making her feel slightly panicked as cold dread began to descend on her. She dared not make a sound, she was too scared to. The creepy grunting was still there and it didn't sound that far off. Her breath hitched in her chest, instinct to call out only tampered by her strong sense of self preservation.
Trying with all her being to stem the panic that wanted to engulf her, Tani looked down at herself. The dirt ground she had been lying on dirtied a greater part of her skin. Her clothes took on the reddish brown hue that was around her.
Tani did a double take.
Her clothes, they were the same clothes she wore to the Colosseum, but then that would mean that the fall she dreamnt about wasn't a dream at all and that she had been here all night lying unconscious on the ground. She turned around and sure enough her back pack was there as well, one strap torn and very dusty, but it was there. Small tingles of premature relief trickled into her bones. Grabbing her bag, Tani rifled through it at a mad mans pace looking for her phone, all she needed to do was call her brother then he could call the police. Satisfied she had something to focus on Tani was severely disappointed when her phone was dead.
She tried turning it on, but to no avail. Tried again and this time holding down on the power button longer, still nothing. Again she tried with nothing to show for her effort. Again, and again and again.
Nothing.
Taking a deep breath, Tani felt a familiar burn in her throat, but she couldn't cry, not now. Shaking herself, Tani tried to rationalise that there wasn't anything to panic and cry about, nobody was here yet and she appeared relatively unscathed. Standing up before she could lose her nerve, Tani noticed that the pain in her body was even worse, her legs felt very shaky and sharp pains shot up to her back and down to her feet at random intervals. Her worst fear was the tenderness around her left ankle, if she was injured and couldn't perform, well she truthfully didn't want to explore the emotions of losing your dreams to a tender ankle.
Taking a few baby steps, her body responded with protest, but it worked. That small ray of hope she felt when she spotted her bag was back, all Tani had to do was find someone who spoke English and help her back to the hotel. She noticed that one of the tarp walls extended to form a make-shift hall way, and with cautious steps went to look around the corner.
"ARGH!"
Tani shrieked at the top of her lungs at the sight of a near naked man who had one cloth wrapped around his head, and one around his crotch looking like a grotesque nappy. She stumbled in her fright and landed on her back side, but ignoring the pain she shuffled back with much sliding on the dirt. The noise she made turned his attention toward her, she screamed again as he lumbered and panted and giggled and grunted toward her.
With abject terror, Tani took her eyes off the man and turned onto her knees so she could scramble to her feet and use her legs. She ran at the tarp and started to climb to get over it, she slipped several times from the panic but finally managed to get a foot hold and she launched herself over. The landing was hard and ungraceful, but Tani didn't care. Her breathing was shallow and the burning in her throat returned.
People gasped and whispered at her sudden unorthodox appearance as they stepped back to give her a wide berth. Tani's confusion in turn returned ten fold.
"Where the hell am I?" She couldn't yell anymore, the shock of finding herself in the middle of some market place with no Colosseum in sight was just too much. The dirt streets were cramped, stalls upon stalls of merchandise littered the place, people swarmed in masses. That wasn't the worst of it.
People were wearing the most strangest of garbs, long cloak like material, women were covered from head to toe. Kids were running around, some barefoot, dirt clinging to their faces. The buildings around her were all made from some sort of primitive brick with the same tarps she saw earlier, and the few solid looking structures were falling apart from neglect. And everything was tinted in the same reddish brown as the dirt.
Not knowing what to do, Tani stumbled past the crowd of onlookers who stayed at least two paces away from her as though she carried some disease, and found a small dark alley away from the public eye. Walking to the very back and finding a wall that prevented her from going any further, Tani leaned against it and slid down and sat staring at the opposite wall.
Tani's mind was completely blank and filled with so many thoughts at the same time it was making her head hurt. She couldn't pin point on one single thought to focus on. Letting her head fall to her knees, she massaged her neck in hopes it would give her a stroke of inspiration.
"Ouch!" Her head snapping up, Tani touched the same spot again only gently. There, at the base of her head, was a huge painful lump. Images of her falling down a darkened slope and being stopped by something solid invaded her head. But that couldn't be right, that was just a strange dream, especially when all the lights appeared and that woman and that globe…
No, the more rational and infinitely more disturbing reason for her current state was that someone did this to her purposefully. Her mind probably just supplied her with fanciful images of holograms when in reality it was most likely a blunt object to the head and a trip in the back of a rusty van. This naturally did nothing for Tani's already fragile state of mind, and as is usually the case, supplied her with more questions than answers.
'Why?'
'Where are the kidnappers?'
'Why?'
'Where did they take me?'
'Why?'
'Does my brother know?'
"Why, why, why, why, why!" The burning in her throat returned and this time it made he lip quiver. Her mind supplied her with thoughts that she was unknowingly trying to suppress. The Colosseum was gone. Any recognisable landmark was gone. Paved streets were gone. There was a constant horrible smell in the air. People were dressed differently. Kids were dirty. And her ankle was sore.
Tani sobbed.
And like a dam breaking, her tenuous hold on her emotions was lost. Her crying was wretched; she idly thought that if this was someone's idea of a joke, it was a really bad one, but how could it be a joke? She was in the middle God only knew where, the Middle East if the people were anything to go by, but that was just absurd! It must be like a China Town in the middle of a big city, but a Lebanon Town instead.
It just made her cry harder. Maybe she was one of those people you saw on T.V that got kidnapped and filmed begging for ransom money to save them with a black bag over their head. With no solution coming to mind, Tani curled around her bag, and with exhaustion of emotional turmoil and a concussion to boot, she closed her eyes and fell into a fitful sleep.
-…-
It was the overwhelming thirst that tore Tani away from her sleep. Where ever she was, it was unbearably hot, and if the setting sun was anything to go by, she hadn't had a drop of water since before she was knocked out and the crying didn't help. Keeping to the alleys to stay out of sight after furious whispers followed her when she showed her face, she believed someone even threw a rock at her, Tani was getting more and more irritated. There were no taps. She searched and searched, but to no avail. This place was disgustingly primitive.
She spotted a fountain at one point, but the water looked putrid. And while she was bordering on desperate, the thought of diarrhoea wasn't a pleasant one. "Wish I packed one.' She muttered to herself, something she found she did more and more as the day progressed. And then, it was as though somebody face palmed her. Tearing the bag off her shoulder, Tani fished around for a moment and pulled out a God sent bottle.
Half of it was already empty, and the water was hot, but dear God she couldn't be happier. She downed it all in seconds, and then regretted it when reason caught up to her. What would happen if she couldn't find her way out of this place? So far her trolling took her around and everything looked the same, she thought she passed the same building twice, but couldn't be sure.
Renewed with hydration, her thoughts once again turned morbid. There was something very odd about the people here. The language, while she understood it, she couldn't quite put her finger on what the problem was. The clothing, it didn't fit any description that she could adhere it to. Maybe from the Middle East, but that was as far as the resemblance went and only on what she saw on documentaries as she had never travelled there personally, it all looked so rustic and simple and plain.
Finding herself another darkened alley, another thing that was in abundance, Tani sequestered herself into its ever elongating shadows. She watched people walk by, watched women carry huge pots on their head, watched all of it in despair. She spotted around four guards, their swords gleaming in the setting sun, as they made their way through the crowd. Thinking this was her chance, Tani only managed to get to her feet when the screaming started.
"I'll have your hand for it you dirty thief!" That was one of the guards and he was holding onto a struggling woman. The other three converged on her as well.
"No, please, I did nothing!"
"Take her!" Two of the guards dragged the woman kicking and screaming through the now watching crowd. Tani could swear the woman was just walking not moments before, she wasn't even close to anything to steal from. Maybe she did it earlier. The two remaining guards kept walking as though nothing had happened, Tani was moments from stepping out of the shadows and approach the guards when one back handed a little boy. "What are you looking at!"
The tear leaked out unbidden and with out warning this time. Tani was too scared to go to the authorities after seeing that. If the looks and abuse she had been receiving from citizens were any indication, what would their police do to her? They might accuse her of stealing or something. Crawling back into her corner, she sat huddled with her arms around her knees. With the sun quickly disappearing, the air was fast becoming cooler and Tani wasn't wearing anything of worth for cold weather.
"What am I going to do?" She whispered hoping if she voiced her fears out loud they might make some sense, the panic ever present since she woke up earlier that day. Her thoughts were like a broken record. Nothing was making sense, no solution was making itself known, she was beginning to think more about her brother and whether he realised she was gone, and was someone looking for her, and did they even know where to look?
"Child?"
Tani gasped loudly from the shock of the voice that was so close. Looking around wildly to detect the owner of the voice, she couldn't see anyone in her alley. Her fear was beginning to morph, what if her kidnappers found her?
"Child why do you sit here and cry?" That same disembodied voice, but this time Tani looked up as that's where it came from. And sure enough, silhouetted with the sun behind them, was a person standing on the low roof above her. It was no doubt a man if the build was anything to go by, his voice kind and not judgemental. He stood there for a moment longer, but Tani didn't know what to say. He moved then and thinking he was going to leave Tani was about to ask him to wait, when instead he leaped off the edge and landed gracefully next to her.
Tani gasped again not expecting him to do that at all. He walked up to her studying her, she could only just make out some of his features in the dim lighting. His skin was darker than hers, he was powerfully built despite the clothes hiding most of it. His jaw was strong, hair pulled back tight to the nape of his neck. In short, he made for a very imposing figure, but his voice, it was gentle and coaxing.
"Why are you crying girl?" He asked again, voice even softer as he sat next to her. Tani didn't flinch when she felt his hand on her chin, didn't move as he tilted her head toward him and brought his other hand to her face and with gentleness she didn't expect wiped her tears. She was able to study him then, his facial hair artfully shaved, wrinkles forming in the corners of his eyes. His hands were large and masculine yet gentle. If Tani wasn't so riddled with panic, fear, shock and numbness, she could easily see him being a very handsome man.
And so she started talking, at first she stuttered and stumbled on her words, but once the ball rolled there was no stopping her speech. She told him of the fall, the grunting man, the strange place, the rude people, the horrible guards. On and on it went, she kept forgetting details and skipping back and forth between events repeating herself, but the man listened with out interrupting, his warm and firm hands not moving from her chin and occasionally wiping a tear that escaped and his eyes studying her unwaveringly.
"…and I couldn't find any water I kept looking and looking, but then I remembered I packed some. And I thought the guards might help, but then I saw them drag that woman away and they had swords and…"
'They had swords?'
"They were carrying swords!" She exclaimed only now realising what she saw earlier. "Who in their right mind carries swords around anymore? I mean can this place get any more weird?"
"What makes you say that child?" His voiced remained steady and kind. The strangeness of the speech these people had was more pronounced when they weren't whispering or shouting. Was it just an accent that she never heard before?
"Well they are swords." She emphasised with a disbelieving smile, she wanted to laugh, but only managed a hiccough. It was as though her smile was infectious because the man smiled too.
"There now, no need to cry see?" he asked, his smile widening. "I think I may know someone that can help you. Would you like that?" Now Tani knew it was probably not the wisest of choices to take the man up on the offer, but what choice did she have? People were treating her no better than a leper here, guards walked around with swords, her phone was dead, she hadn't a clue where on the planet she was let alone how she got here, and this man was the only one to offer her help. Chances of him being a psychotic killer were probably very high, but it was a choice between a kind psycho, getting stoned, or being run through with a sword.
That didn't sound all kinds of crazy at all!
"Yes please." She whispered pathetically. She felt completely drained from all the emotion.
"Good girl." He let go of her then, and jumped to his feet with practiced ease. Kind smile still in place he held his hand for her to take. Gingerly reaching up, his hand completely engulfed hers and he pulled her up as though she weighed no more than a feather. "Tell me you name."
"It's Tani, Iltani, but everyone calls me Tani. My parents are a little eccentric, my brother got a nice normal name, I wasn't so lucky." She was babbling now, trying to find her footing after sitting for so long. His warm hand was firm on her shoulder steadying her. He was studying her with veiled scrutiny, his eyes seemed to take in her dirtied state. It would have made her feel uncomfortable, but his eyes thankfully didn't stay in any particular place for long.
Tani studied him in return now. His outfit was strange, his pants were like none she had seen men freely walk around in, they were extremely baggy until they reached his ankles where they were tightly wrapped no doubt to prevent him from tripping, sort of like those hideous genie pants that made it onto the fashion scene for a (thankfully) brief time. His shirt wasn't too eccentric, Tani having seen similar styles on some people, mainly hippies. It was the belt and the things around his arms that made the whole outfit scream weird. They were clearly made from leather and looked bulky and heavy. However, his wasn't the weirdest attire she had seen all day so Tani decided to overlook it, apparently everyone here had a healthy dose of strange in them.
"Sorry, I'm being rude, I didn't ask your name." Tani said, remembering herself and feeling slightly embarrassed at her lack of social decorum. This man was already seeing her at her worst, no need to match her manners to it.
"You may call me Talal." He said, his smile widening slightly. "Come with me, you can rest somewhere safe for tonight." He walked around her once, studying her some more, and it was then that Tani noticed the rest of his outfit. Or more importantly what was attached to it.
A bow. A quiver of arrows. A sword.
Tani felt the blood rush down from her face, past her stomach and pool at the bottom of her feet. Fear gripped yet again with even more ferocity. Her hands felt tingly with adrenalin, a feeling that was spreading up her arms. Her breathing increased to a rapid pace. Scratch going with a psychotic killer she changed her mind, she will take the stoning.
"I-I." She started to say, but her voice caught viciously in her throat. Maybe this was some sort of third world country where they couldn't afford guns and ammunition and needed to resort to old world weaponry to…to, but of course that made no sense, because third world countries did have guns and ammunition, lots of it. And what made even less sense was that she was in Italy and not in Africa, and of course Africa was absolutely mental because if she was anywhere really it wouldn't be Africa the people around her looked more Arabic or something to that affect, but then maybe it was the close proximity of the continents, or her terribly uneducated guesses and where did Africa even come into the whole equation?
That's right, she was thinking about third world countries. Tani whimpered audibly.
"Thank you sir." She tried again, and while she was able to get her words out, her voice was shaking uncontrollably while she backed away further from him. "B-but I'll just find somewhere on my own." Her breath hitched. "I-I'm really sorry for taking up s-so much of your time, er, t-thank you again."
"What is the matter girl?" He asked, his voice just as gentle, just as soothing, he followed her step for step. "Come, stop this. I know your kind well, and I know someone that will help."
"My kind?" Tani's voice was getting higher and higher as her throat constricted more.
"You need not be a whore any longer, come girl, I will take you somewhere safe."
Tani sobbed when she heard this, it was worse than she thought, not that she could think any longer, her head was spinning, and she was sure she was hyperventilating. This was only made worse when her back hit a wall. With no strength left she sunk back down, hugged her knees and rocked back and forth. This could only be one of the very worst sort of nightmare, none of this could be real, things like this only ever happened on T.V.
"I'm not a whore." Tani whined pitifully.
"Don't be ashamed girl. We will help." She could feel him right in front, and as though his hands on her shoulders were some sort of signal, she screamed with all that was left in her, lashed out, and was on her feet before her mind could process what was happening. The shift caused her vertigo to worsen, she stumbled and ran at the opening in the alley, not that it did any good.
"Don't be foolish girl, you think you could out run me?" Her back was pressed to Talal's chest as he caught up to her in a matter of two strides. She sobbed pathetically with her head hanging as her arms were pressed to her side. "Shh, don't be afraid child. You will get the help you need, there is no need to be afraid."
"Please let me go." Tani pleaded with barely a whisper. He turned her so she was facing him. His expression hadn't changed, it was still kind and gentle as he looked at her. He wiped the tears off her face again, and then nodded once. It was barely perceptible, but it was enough for Tani to feel some wonder. He was really going to just let her go?
She then felt a blinding pain in the back of her head for the second time in a very short span of time. The last thing Tani saw was Talal reaching out to catch her as her world turned black.
-...-
A/N: Another chapter, this time showing you where she landed. Not many reviews, one to be exact, but so long as one person is interested I shall persevere...having said that, it would be nice to know your thoughts, not getting reviews is like talking to a wall...bland and unresponsive.
On another note, The views of characters do not necessarily reflect my own, so please do not think I am out to offend anybody.
So without further ado, my sincere Thank you goes to:
-flyingcrispi-
