LITD: Hi guys! Sorry for being so late, but my dad had organised a last minute vacation so had to get ready for it and I only got back on Monday so I haven't had much time to write it since my dad said i couldn't take my laptop with me. However, I remembered that I didn't updated for a while so as soon as I got back, I tried my best to get this done. I hope you guys enjoy it 'cause there's a lot of action in this chappy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Assassin's Creed apart from a copy that I bought at the local game store. Right at this moment, it is my favourite game of the year and so is Halo 3. I don't know which one is better T.T
What would the world be like without video games…boring, in my view anyway.
They Aren't the Same!
I hate this place. Everyone made this sword fighting business so simple while I had to sit through a really long lecture about how not to die.
At first, Altair asked me about kickboxing, which led me into giving him a quick lesson about the martial art, then he started getting technical about armed combat.
"A sword is just like an extension of the arm." He said to me while swinging it around. Show off.
"What's this got to do with kickboxing?" I asked as he approached me with the weapon still looping about the place.
Suddenly, the sword stopped inches from my nose, forcing me to squeak and edged back away from the tip. I narrowed my eyes up the blade at Altair as he retracted the weapon and sheathed it. "What the hell was that?!" I screamed at him, gesturing at the sword as I jumped up from the bench. "Are you trying to kill me?!"
"Have you learned nothing?" he snapped back, his eyes bearing holes into my face. "Every day is dangerous for an assassin. If you want to become one of us then you will have to deal with that whether you like it of not."
I sighed and dropped my gaze to the floor. I felt pathetic and, although I hate to admit it, he was right. If I acted like this whether I passed the test or not, I wouldn't last more than a day out there.
"What are you proposing then?" I asked since he was the oh-so-glorious-self-centred guy who knew everything to do with a blade.
"One moment" he went over to the wardrobe at the back of the large room and opened it. My eye widen at the amount of blades that were held in there, many different shapes and sizes. After a quick browse, he shut the doors and handed me a black sword. It wasn't heavy, but it was as long as my arm. "When you think about it, sword fighting is the same thing as this kickboxing of yours"
I gave him an arched eyebrow. "Yeah, a big sharp thing that can slice your head off is totally the same as a punch or a kick to the head." I scoffed as I inspected my new friend…
Wait a minute.
"Don't you see?" Altair brought out his sword again and walked towards me. "If I were to jab at your head, what would you do?"
Oh, I get it! Whoohoo, I got something! That so has to go in my record book…if I had one.
"I would dodge and counter."
"Exactly. Now, practice it with a sword."
"Hold o- Whoa!" I barely managed to sidestep the attack that he mentioned, causing me to stumble and fall to the floor.
"Come on Keira. Stop retreating and fight." he said firmly as I tried to slow my heart rate, – which was about 100 mph – standing to face my 'teacher'.
I tried the same attack and went for the head, which Altair easily avoided, but he added a not-so-soft punch to the side as I past. The counter winded me a bit, but not enough to floor me again.
Frustration was building in me. I only had had till midday to prepare for the 'test' thing which would decide if I die or not.
This time, Altair came at me at a fast rate, slicing for my shoulder. Using his advice, I ducked under the attack and used the handle to butt him in the chest.
He stepped back to give himself some breathing space. "Very good" Yay! A complement. "Now, I shall bring this fight up a level."
Oh goodie/fuck.
He was so fast, it was unbelievable. In about two bounds, he would be less than a foot away from me. I still opted for the retreat and jab for a couple of attempts until we paused for a brief second.
I started the attack this time, leaping up to slam the blade onto his shoulder. However, Altair brought his sword up to block my attack, stopping me from hitting him and let me land. "Only block if you need to. Sometimes it may not be the best option as some fighters could be stronger than yourself, resulting in you being pushed to the floor and killed if you're not quick enough." Just as he finished, he pushed me back and charged for me. I eeped as I tripped over the bench and crashed to the brick floor. I felt disorientated, but when I focused my eyes I saw Altair in the air, ready to stick the blade into my head.
Not going to happen.
I rolled out of the way and onto my knees. I heard the sword clatter as it connected with the ground and that's when I found my chance. I pivoted and ran for my teacher. Our swords clashed loudly and I grunted at the force that I had to put into the attack just to prevent Altair from tripping me again.
Now I knew what he meant about the strength thing. After all, I'm only a small, 18 year old girl. Obviously in this time period, it didn't matter.
Once again, he pushed me back, but this time I managed to steady myself enough to try my own style and opted for a roundhouse kick. The look in his eyes made me realise that he didn't expect that, but he still managed to block it by grabbing my foot and throwing me to the floor. Again. However, I didn't react fast enough to defend myself, which ended up with Altair standing over me with his blade pressed against my throat.
Fear took over my body almost instantly, freezing me to the core. I stared wide eyed into his eyes and it shocked me at what I found. Hate, pain, loneliness, worst of all, bloodlust, and I was at his mercy.
I was staring into the eyes of an assassin, an experienced assassin, and it seemed as if he needed someone to kill.
Me.
Suddenly, his eyes soften and he released me from his grasp, turning away from me as he got up. At this point, I managed to let out the breath that I didn't realise I was holding until my lungs burned for air.
"I'm sorry" he whispered, sheathing his sword and stormed out of the room, leaving me gasping on the floor.
Was he really going to kill me? It damn well looked like it.
I groaned as I sat up and I glanced out of the window. I still had a while to go since the sun wasn't near the centre of the sky. What I didn't notice was that I was shaking like a leaf, so much that I had to use the bench for support to help me stand. I let out a shaky sigh as I put my sword back in its holster and turned for the door.
Just as I exited the room, one of the maids scurried to me, looking over me worryingly before she shook her head. "You better come with me, Miss. You look like you need a bath" she said politely and began to lead me to another room.
Wait, did she say bath? I'm officially in heaven. By the time we arrived at our destination, the hot tub was full of steaming water.
It looked so…so comforting.
"I will be back in a few minutes so I can remove you clothes. They will be replaced with fresh, clean fighting gear." She said and exited the room. I liked her, she was the only person so far that has actually been nice to me.
Even though the thought of being clean after god-knows how long, I frowned. Straight after this, I was going to have to fight for my life, which meant that the clean robe will be clean no more.
I threw off my borrowed clothes and nearly jumped into the water as if it was a swimming pool. They even provided soap, I didn't think that soap was invented back then…here...now. Not that I was complaining, I just didn't pay attention in history.
I let the soap cleanse my abused hair and relaxed against the back of the tub. I took this time to relive the events of the training. It troubled me that Altair was actually going to kill me, but what stopped him?
I heard the door creak open and the maid walked back in to collect my discarded clothes. "Thankyou" I shouted after her before the door clicked shut again, leaving alone once again.
I continued to clean myself with the soap, but when it touched my neck I hissed when my skin burned at its touch. I felt the front of my neck and inspected my hand. Small drops of blood slid down my palm and tinted the water when they fell. That was when I let my body submerge completely in the water, removing the rest of the soap and whatever blood I had on my body.
I had enough of the bath and the silence. The bedroom that the bathroom exited in to was empty when I entered it, but I saw the clean robe that the maid provided lying on the bed with the same black sword sitting next to it.
After a quickly drying myself with a towel, I slipped into my new attire…and it fitted perfectly.
Score one for whoever made the clothes here.
Seconds after I had finished putting my hair into a ponytail, someone knocked on the door. "Miss?" it was the maid again, but this time she sounded unhappy, "The master wishes for your presence."
I frowned. Was it that time already? The sun outside the window confirmed that it was midday. Stupid time betrayed me again. At least I felt refreshed and ready to go, but my shaking body told me otherwise. I really was scared, one mistake could kill…I'm starting to sound like Altair. My fists clenched at the name. After all, he did almost kill me.
Almost.
"Miss?" the maid called again, this time her soft voice was impatient and worried.
I jogged to the door and swung it open, causing the maid to jump with fright. "Sorry, I didn't realise what time it was." I said sheepishly and closed the door behind me.
"That's ok," she smiled softly and gestured to her left. "This way, please."
We walked in silence for the first few seconds before I managed to come out with a good question for once. "What's your name?"
"Miriam, why do you ask, Miss?" she sounded uncertain.
"I thought it would have been better to call you by your name instead of calling you Maid all the time" I answered before adding, "Its ok to call me Keira, by the way."
"We servants are not permitted to call our masters by their names." Miriam said grimly. By this time were ascending up the gardens at the back of the castle.
I jogged until I was next to her and placed my arm around her shoulder. "Let's just keep it our secret" I whispered. "I don't like the fact that we separate each other because of our status. Besides, I might not live long enough for you to get the chance to call me Keira anyway." I remembered in a disdain passion.
We got to the archway that led into the main part of the castle and Miriam stopped. "I wish you good luck for your fight." she smiled and stepped to the side so that I could enter.
"Thankyou again" and after a bow, she left.
I will see her again, I kept saying to myself as I wondered up to the desk which Al Mualim resided behind, his back facing me when I stopped. I didn't bother with any type of noise because I knew that he was about to speak.
Despite the confidence, I was still shaking and it was hard to hide it.
"Keira," he addressed me in a powerful, commanding tone, "are you ready?"
I met his gaze, so full of wisdom and knowledge. "Yes, I am" I replied as strong as I could.
What I didn't expect was that he began to chuckle, "I admire your courage, but you don't realise what you are getting yourself into. You must remember that Dari is one of my best trainees" I do know actually, I wanted to say, but obviously I couldn't. "I will be watching you battle from here which means you shall fight in the training area just outside. Now go."
I gave him a smirk, "This is gonna be fun." How I wish I meant that statement. Stupid emotions.
When I arrived outside the pit, I was surprised to see that I would have an audience. Some of the spectators eyed me up, probably discussing how I was going to be defeated. To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me.
I jumped the fence into the arena and blew my bang out of my face. My opponent was standing at the other side, talking to two other people, friends I presume.
My arms crossed as impatience began to emerge from me, I just wanted to get this battle over and down with, but still he faced his friends and not me.
That's it, "Hey asshole!" I called, grabbing Dari's attention. "Stop chatting up your bitches and face me."
Immediately, he laughed and so did the rest of the audience. "You're my special opponent?" he scoffed.
"Well duh, I wouldn't be standing here if I wasn't meant to be here or are you that retarded?" I growled.
This time, his laugh died down to a deep chuckled, "Go back to your hut and clean up the dirt like the rest of the females. You don't belong in a man's world." Dari said simply with a wave of his hand and turned back to his friends.
That sexist, stereotypical, self-centred, fucking bastard! I am so gonna rip his balls off and force them down his throat.
Ok Keira, calm down. Just…calm…down……
SCREW THIS!!!
The first thing that came to my head was hit him with something. And the first thing happened to be a rock. Without thinking, I launched it at the jerk and it managed to smack him in the shoulder.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and I just realised what I had done.
Uh oh.
Dari turned slowly and when his face was in full view, it scared the hell out of me…and that was an understatement. If looks could kill, I would definitely be dead.
His eyes narrowed to slits and he drew his blade threateningly slow. "I'll make you wish you had never been born." He snarled and charged towards me. I barely managed to bring out my blade to block his swipe and roll away from a kick. When I stopped, I quickly turned to slash at him multiple time, but he blocked them easily and pushed me back.
By this time, our fight had drawn the attention of many people, some watched in awe while others whooped and cheered. It gave me the adrenaline that I needed, also due to the fact that my opponent jabbed at my stomach. Using what I had learned, I pretended that the swords were arms and pushed his blade away, landing a punch to the side as he passed.
It wasn't hard enough to floor him, but enough to anger him so I decided that I would play a bit. "What was it that you said? 'You don't belong in a man's world'" I scoffed and smirked at him. "I think I just proved you wrong."
However, his reaction wasn't what I expected since he laughed, now he was really pissing me off.
We backed away from each other and began to circle around the pit, staring intensely to see who would make the first move. I rolled my shoulders to relieve the tension I could feel contracting my muscles.
A grin was plastered on Dari's face, one that made me feel uneasy, and he lunged, his blade moving in a dark blur of speed towards my head. To counter, I threw myself forward under his strike and aimed a punch for the stomach. He managed to turn at the last second and I missed by a few millimetres, sliding past his belly. I allowed the momentum to carry me past him and tried for a spinning back kick, but I was too slow, resulting in the butt of his sword slamming into my collarbone. I sucked in a sharp, painful breath as I dropped.
I rolled across the dirt and came back standing with a pump in my leg, turning and kicking out sideways with my right foot in one movement, aiming for his knee. However, the attack didn't go as planned, my leg flew past its target as Dari sidestepped and swung for my neck.
'Oh my god', I gasped in my head as well as out loud, 'this guy is really trying to kill me.'
To prevent my head from being sliced off, I fell backwards and landed hard on the dirt. Because of his momentum, he spun right around, giving me enough time to stand and black his next swing with my own blade, making a loud clash. I could feel the pressure mount as Dari began to tower over me, nearly knocking me to the floor.
With a grunt, I tried to kick him again and this time I caught him in the stomach, causing him to stumble back and gasp for his lost breath.
Before long (long as in two seconds) he was charging for me again, his speed catching me off guard once again. He aimed for my shoulder with a horizontal two handed slash. I ducked under the attack, but his next surprise was that his knee connected with my chin. With a grunt, I collapsed to the floor, I could taste the blood now seeping into my mouth from my burst lip.
A laugh erupted from Dari's mouth as he came to stand over me. "Look at you" he scoffed, pointing at me with his sword "this is why you women shouldn't be fighting" he face ended up inches from mine, "never try a man's job" he hissed.
My first reaction was I screamed and thrust my head forward, slamming into his nose and causing him to back away from me. By now I didn't care if I killed him or not, because in my books, this man deserves to die.
Growling, I jumped up and lunged after him as he held his, now broken, nose. I gave him a sidekick to the face to add to the pain, making Dari slump backwards to the ground.
Within a flash, my blade was against his throat, his face covered in blood from his injury.
'Serves you right' I smirked in my head. I brought my face down next to his ear. "I win" I whispered.
The audience, however, remained silent. Some were shocked and surprised that I had managed to win. Hell, even I didn't think that I could've won against this guy.
My gear clattered loudly as I got up and sheathed my sword, my eyes not leaving Dari's. "Never get on the bad side of a girl" I hissed and turned to walk away.
"Keira! Look out!" I heard Miriam's familiar voice screaming and the spectators gasped. My eyes widened as I turned to face Dari's fury.
At first I didn't feel the blade hit, but it jabbed into my stomach. It didn't go right through and almost immediately it was pulled out. Shakily, I looked up to see Altair standing over Dari, who was now back on the ground again.
Now the pain hit me like being hit by a truck or two, forcing me to double over and cry out when the wound throb. It hurt so much that I rolled over onto my back and I held my wound to try and keep the blood from escaping through my skin. I clamped my eyes shut as the tears streamed down my face and I let out a small, quiet cry.
By now, Altair's face came into my blurred vision, he was saying something, but for some reason I couldn't hear a thing apart from a high pitch beep.
The last thing I remember before falling into unconsciousness, Altair picked me up bridal style and began to sprint up to the castle.
Sometimes I wish he would stop cramping my style like this.
LITD: Well folks, did you guys think of the latest chapter? As you can tell, Keira is going to be out of action for a while, but that doesn't mean that she can get on other people's nerves…
Please leave reviews as feedback is always helpful and persuades me to keep going or at least helps me to undo my mistakes. Thanks to those who have reviewed already and I hope you guys will stay with me till the end. Till next time and have a Happy/Scary Halloween.