This chapter is a "Just so you know" chapter. Just so you know.

Alyssa Raven- Thank you for your review, I was excited when I received it and I took your advice. I'm glad because I was worried that making this chapter from his sister's point of view would be too confusing...And I was right! Why don't I ever listen to my instincts?! O.O Anyway, I took her out now. Thank you for your time.

Disclaimer: I still do not own Assassin's Creed...though at this moment I'm plotting on ways how I can.


Chapter 3 - Ryan's Rescue

While his sister was in that alleyway talking and reassuring herself, her brother was somewhere along the road, wandering…and he had no idea what he was doing.

And…He was nowhere near her…to her greatest displeasure (and his). But it wasn't his sister he was thinking about at that moment…He could hear the silent call his parched throat messaged to his brain. Water…Where's the freaking water?!

"Where am I?" He asked no one in particular. He thought he could see people in the distance…but he wasn't quite sure if they were real. Only a few seconds had passed and the sun began to feel hotter than before. Ryan felt himself lean on a rocky surface and scooted quickly into the shade.

He began to realize that he was in a canyon-like area, the rocky walls surrounded him as he sat down, looking up at the sky. He felt really pitiful.

Ryan worried that he'd soon start having delusions as the heat waves were seen undulating across the air.

Ryan could not think clearly as his mind was nearly taken over with the desire to drink water. It was his survival instinct that was driving him mad. If he did not have water soon, Ryan was unsure what he would do...Probably something crazy. Or pathetic.

(Probably the latter.)

He felt sweat trickle down his forehead but didn't bother to wipe it away. He was amazed at how warm it still felt even in the shade! Ryan wondered if he was only feeling so miserable from not being used to this kind of weather. Hot enough to cook things on a sidewalk. Ryan thought.

There were footsteps coming closer to him, but Ryan didn't look up until he realized there was a man standing in front of him. The man looked to be in his mid forties, Ryan noted as the man came closer, his skin darkened from the constant meetings it had with the sun.

When he began to speak, Ryan was vividly aware of the fact that there was not a single thing he understood that came out of his mouth. He seemed nice enough despite their obvious language barrier, and he looked understandably concerned.

"I'm sorry…have no idea what you're saying…" Ryan sat up straighter and attempted to look lucid. He groaned and realized how much he was failing when he couldn't bear to even try to stand up.

The man had the grace to look briefly astonished before he took hold of senses and brushed whatever thoughts he had away. This was an odd occurrence to him, but not nearly odd enough. He then chose to speak to the boy in another language.

Ryan shook his head, filled with embarrassment. "Sorry, I didn't study French." Suddenly, choosing to take French in high school seemed like it would have been a better alternative than Spanish.

He fully expected the man to just shake his head and then walk away. The sad excuse for a conversation would be put in the back of his mind and he'd forget everything by the time he returned home. Ryan waited for it as he looked down at his feet and the dirt. He felt like dirt.

But what happened instead…Ryan did not even anticipate at all. The man kneeled down in front of him and before his feet and took out a leather flask, drawing the eyes of Ryan towards it immediately. If he wasn't feeling so miserably overheated he would have crawled towards it like a famished dog for food at the dinner table.

Ryan restrained himself from snatching the flask away and gulping down the thing like a starved animal. He managed to look up at the man's face and studied him carefully to see…Well, he wasn't sure what he was looking for. Was the man playing with him?

But he saw the look in the man's eyes said otherwise. Especially when the man leaned forward with the flask, closer to Ryan's hands. Ryan couldn't contain himself as he took it like a precious gem.

He took special care to gulp down the water slowly. After those few precious seconds, the man gestured that it was time to move on, an amused expression glued to his face. Ryan sheepishly and hesitantly returned the flask, realizing that there was little left. "Sorry." He managed to choke out while the man laughed, seeming to fully understand while not.

The man took Ryan's arm as he helped him up. Ryan was left feeling perplexed when he realized he was actually standing, he could still feel the heat on his brow. He felt himself sway, but the man was quick to steady him. Ryan was unused to being touched to someone he wasn't familiar with and nearly flinched if he didn't feel so woozy.

The man said something, probably in relation to Ryan's condition and lightly touched Ryan's forehead. He murmured something while Ryan simultaneously offered in tired words. "I'm fine. I'm just tired and dehydrated."

The man didn't respond but supported Ryan from falling and seemed to be leading him somewhere. "Oh ok, where are you taking me?"

The man just continued to lead Ryan without a word.

"Hope you aren't planning on kidnapping me…and stuff." Ryan laughed nervously, but he went along with the man until he realized he was leading him to a horse.

They stood a few seconds beside the large animal before Ryan realized what the man was intending.

"I'm sorry, I can't-…I don't know how!" Ryan stammered in a way most unintelligent, forgetting the man wouldn't understand a word he said anyways. "This is just not happening, man." He stepped back from the horse like it was a monster.

Compared to Ryan who was only half a head taller than his already short sister, the horse was gigantic. The beast snorted as it let out a breath and Ryan muttered something about being scared out of his wits. Ryan did not like horses. He was terrified of them and preferred seeing them on the television screen instead.

Seeing Ryan's skittishness, the man smiled cordially and laughed, throwing back his head in the process. Ryan felt like a cornered mouse and was glancing towards both the horse and the man. The man was patting the horse's saddle as an invitation but all Ryan could think in response was: You can pat that horse all you want. I'm not getting on it.

"I don't like getting on things that are higher than me." Ryan took a couple more steps back. And then the horse grunted and he paused, staring straight into its dark soulless black eyes. "In fact, I usually don't trust things that are inhumanly higher than me. AND that also have the capacity to trample me. To death."

The man put his hands on his hips and probably said something along the lines of: "Don't be ridiculous." And probably some more stuff involving how weird Ryan was being…and also how much talking he was doing.

But the man's words were strangely comforting and, in his mind, Ryan could almost imagine what he was saying. His words were deciphered into a gentle whisper into his mind like a calming wave. He realized that this man wasn't dangerous. He couldn't be.

Do not fear Amyl, he would not hurt anyone. Strong as he is. He was offering a genuine smile of comfort. Calm your mind and set it towards the task.

The young man smiled uneasily, but for different reasons. Did he just mentally interpret the man's words in his mind? He felt mystified. It would be like an automatic translator in his mind was at work, dubbing everything in a way he could understand. (With bad lip syncing involved too, it seemed.)

Before Ryan could think about the odd occurrence even more, the world before him suddenly swayed, like a ripple in the water. He thought it was the heat playing on him but then saw his sight change before him again. Everything looked pixilated and fell apart to the sound of digital tones, only to quickly repair itself once again.

In his direction came a wave made of what appeared to energy, almost water like and it came swiftly towards him, hesitating not a moment. Ryan closed his eyes and expected impact but felt almost nothing. He opened his eyes in awe and noticed, surprisingly the sound of the city sounded…dissimilar…Yet familiar…Almost like he could understand what they were speaking. The flow of his home language all came at him and entered his ears, his mind picking up the familiar words.

It was only then that Ryan saw that the man and him weren't the only ones on this road.

A passing pair of servants. "Have you heard? The master intends on…"

A young boy. "Why must I always be sent on these tiresome errands?! I swear that…"

A woman. "Oh, I do hope for such a thing too! The color of the fabric is just so…"

Ryan found his head flipping from voice to voice that passed by him. Each person that just happened to walk by, his ears would follow in relief that they could understand. His eyes were wide in anticipation to figure out whether this was all just a delusion. He spoke without meaning to, "Maybe I'm imagining this…?" He couldn't keep the question from his voice as he whispered the thought to himself. But it was loud enough for someone to hear.

"Boy…Did you speak?" The man asked cautiously but then smiled as though it were all a joke. "I am not one for these games." His eyes were gentle and forgiving with which Ryan felt the burn of embarrassment, once again. Would he truly do such a thing? The fact that the man accused him, though somehow kindly, of such a thing made Ryan's skin crawl with guilt (though he didn't do it)…He might as well have accused him of a sort of treason.

Ryan shook his head vigorously, appalled and spoke more loudly than necessary. "No, I'd never do anything like that!" …to anyone I don't know… Ryan almost said but decided against it. "I don't know what happened, one second I don't even understand a word you're saying and then-POOF! I understand everything!" Ryan realized how idiotic and unbelievable this was all sounding and immediately shut up, blushing with bright frustration.

Ryan then started pacing, worried, distracting himself as he spoke again after an awkward pause. "I don't even know how I ended up on that road! It was like someone knocked me out and dropped me off!" He certainly knows how to keep his cool, doesn't he? His voice was growing frantic, he noticed, so he tried his best to calm himself. He drew in a deep breath and forced himself to look the man in the face, preparing.

The man wore an amused expression but then it faded as he realized the young man was serious (which rarely happens, if only he knew). "I see." Those two words bearing a conviction that was chilling.

"Boy, you shall come with me. I will watch over you until we find who would be so spiteful." His voice seemed to bear a sense of anger and grim feeling. Ryan felt grateful he was not the center of this man's anger, for some reason thinking this cordial man would have the ability to kill with ease.

Ryan almost corrected him, but bit his tongue to stop himself. He decided to let the man think what he wanted, as long as it wasn't him who implied it, he wouldn't be lying...right? Ryan felt a twinge of guilt, making himself look like the victim…But to tell the man the truth would make the situation worse.

The man would possibly consider dropping Ryan off to a nearby asylum.

"By the way, my name is Ryan." He said as the man helped him onto the horse, he didn't want to be addressed as "boy" anymore even though it was meant as a term of endearment. Lifting his body weight over the saddle and putting it on the horse, Ryan never felt so high.

He was already imagining his crumpled body on the ground. It was not pleasant.

"Thanks, I've never ridden a horse before." As if this wasn't obvious enough.

"Rye-an?...A most particular and intriguing name…" The man climbed onto the horse seating himself behind Ryan as the poor horse grunted in displeasure of the fact of now having to carry two people. But it was an obedient horse, Amyl, Ryan remembered was his name, and he seemed to take two people quite fine.

"Aren't we too heavy?" Ryan couldn't help but worrying, though Amyl seemed fine and unbothered as they moved along. He half expected the ill-fated horse to collapse in fatigue by the time they returned to the man's home.

Behind him, he felt the man's breath as he laughed again before answering. "Amyl is quite fine, my boy, he has carried heavier burdens." Ryan could sense the teasing tone as he patted Ryan on the head good naturally. If he could have, Ryan would have turned around and stuck out his tongue at the insult but only muttered. "I'm not that overweight." The man laughed again.

While they rode on, and Ryan's heart was racing from this rush of events quickly unfolding, he began to catch up with his racing thoughts. There was a lot. He was thinking about home. He knew all too well that this was not home. It was miles away…and probably centuries away!

And if they truly were transported into the game…then he was even a reality away! I'm…how the heck am I getting home?!

"You are quiet." The man noted gently, not really knowing how significant his observation was.

Ryan was taken aback with no idea what to say…except some of the truth. "I'm just worried…" Very little of the truth.

"…" Ryan had an inkling feeling that the man did not truly believe his statement as a silence followed, but it didn't take very long with the conversation to pick up again. "So you remember nothing?"

"The last thing I remember is…" Ryan tried thinking back as far as he could. "Waking up and freaking out like a little girl."

Nadir chuckled and patted Ryan on the shoulder. "But you kept a level head afterwards and managed to keep walking forward."

"I'd really appreciate that, thank you." Was all that he managed to say, but it seemed enough. Any more than that and Ryan would have been babbling like a fool.

"You seem of good heart, Rye-an…"He smiled but then his eyes grew dismal. "But I must warn you, since you seem oblivious of it, not all people are as kind and trusting as I. There are those who would seek to hurt you deliberately." His attitude had changed so quickly, it came as a surprise. Ryan would have jumped off the horse. His throat felt constricted as a temporary lapse of fear took him, the grim unfriendly voice of the man being alien. "O-okay, not everyone is going to be my friend, got it."

"Very well." The man perked up, his voice cheerful once again. He seemed satisfied and went on smiling as though it never happened. Again, the conversation seemed to be bright and joyful. "Now, Rye-an, perhaps you have not heard of this city- I can tell by the curious and amazed look on your face- But it was most remembered for the very stones it was built on, the man who had founded this quaint dwelling had a sort of a odd name, not many people remember but…" This man loved to talk. He loved to laugh. Ryan smiled with relief, knowing he would come to like this man.

The road was stretched and seemed almost endless. There was no scenery to gaze at along the way, since it all looked the same anyway; it was just dirt, sand, pebbles and more dirt. And sometimes the occasional boulder, rock and shrub. Ryan didn't remember the game area being so sparse and endless. Is this a different way than the one that Altair took…?

Ryan's questions came to halt when they started seeing more landmarks and vegetation. Though everything still looked dried up. When they got past a high stone archway, Ryan began to feel a sense of déjà vu and even more so when they continued on the path.

Especially when they began to approach a large gate, towering and made of thick logs.

"Where are we?" He asked quietly as they approached the entrance. He could not keep the nervous tone of his voice, any moment he felt as though they would be ambushed.

The man glanced back at Ryan filled with curiosity. "Masyaf…Have you not heard of it?"

Ryan felt a shock go through his head as he answered uneasily. "Um…no." Ryan felt his cheeks flush with unease because of the fact that he did know of Masyaf, he ducked his head and started at the back hairs of Amyl. "W-what's with the huge gates?" He tried to distract himself while also trying to cope with his lie.

Ryan felt the man stiffen at the question and for a moment there was silence, Ryan knew then it would most likely too prying of a question and silently cursed himself for questioning so. "Protection, my dear boy." Was all he said in the end, even though that information should have been apparent from the beginning. Ryan chose to ignore this and let it slide.

"Halt! Man, state your business." A guard garbed in white and dark grey walked forward, from his face, he looked young and close to Ryan's age. Ryan felt like he was going to jump from the horse again. They hadn't even walked in and they were going to get arrested!

"Makin, my boy, I've known you since you were but a babe! Is this the respect you show to a friend of your father?" The man addressed the guard with a scolding voice as though he was his father. Ryan noticed the man's "my boy" endearment being used and figured this was out of habit. He then wondered of the man's son…But wouldn't ask, knowing it would probably be too painful for the man to try and remember.

The man (boy), by the name of Makin, looked shocked as his eyes widened and he gaped for but a second. "N-Nadir, sir! Forgive me, one cannot help but be cautious. You must understand." He was apparently trying to make up an excuse for not recognizing the man...Ryan tried to suppress as smile as he coughed into his fist as a reprieve.

But Nadir laughed heartedly and waved the excuse away, being his normal and cheerful self again, he did-…or could not stay serious for long, it seemed. "Worry not, my boy, you are but a young fledgling now…Just remember to not be too hasty! Give Al Mualim my regards, will you not?" He said this quite loudly that Ryan nearly flinched along with the young man as he watched the others in the back listening, laughter in their eyes.

"Y-yes sir." He bowed graciously as his fellow guards quietly snickered at Makin's straightforwardness. Ryan tried not to look back as they passed, not wanting to make the guy feel any more embarrassed than he already did. When they were out of earshot, Ryan took the liberty the scold the old man.

"That's not very nice." Ryan commented, thinking back on Makin's discomfited look and immediately feeling sympathetic. Perhaps it was because they were close in age, but Ryan could not stand the thought of humiliation of a person. He imagined the poor guy would be teased constantly about that episode now.

"The boy needs to be taught a lesson now. If he isn't given time to correct his errors he shall grow arrogant...And that shall become most unbecoming..." He shrugged as they moved on. Ryan thought briefly about Altair and silently agreed, knowing where arrogance gothim. But he still couldn't help but still disagree with howhe taught him the lesson.

And so onward they went, safe within the walls of Masyaf… and near the residence of the assassins, Ryan could not help but note delightfully to himself. The thought excited him. "Rye-an, just you wait till you meet everyone." Nadir spoke with a twinkle in his eye, jovial as Ryan looked back at him and they dismounted from Amyl.

Ryan hadn't the heart to correct the man. He kept on mispronouncing his name.

Now, within the city, Ryan could see the fountain in the center of the courtyard like he remembered from the game and grew giddy as he strode over to it. But the man needed to keep going as he called to him, leading Amyl. "Come, Rye-an, we haven't the time to linger." Ryan hesitatingly left as his reflection in the water rippled away.

Standing next to the large and tall steed, Ryan still felt wary of the beast though he rode for hours on him. Ryan's opinion was softened, but he took great care in keeping a respectful distance from the animal. He imagined his sister would take to the large animal with adoring eyes and cry in glee. He chuckled and suddenly felt worried. Where was she?

Walking on the other side of Amyl, the old man looked over his back and saw Ryan's troubled expression. "You seem disturbed, Rye-an." He had began to use his name more often now, dropping the "my boy" business.

"I'm only thinking." Ryan smiled, to show him nothing was wrong, but could see the man was not satisfied. "Okay, you got me." He looked annoyed and muttered. "Amyl still scares the heck out of me." This was not a lie. But not necessarily the thing bothering him at that specific moment. However, the old man seemed to accept it as he smiled patiently. "I do not understand why one would feel threatened by Amyl."

Ryan groaned and replied as he threw his head back and stretched, trying to give his body something to do to rid himself of the strain from sitting too long. He wasn't used to riding, and the result gave him a large pain in his butt. Quite literally. "Just look at him, will you? He's humongous!"

"I shall take that as a compliment. Thank you." The man laughed as he continued walking on, his eyes closing briefly during that laugh in utter enjoyment. Ryan felt a twinge of annoyance, but it disappeared as he laughed too. He looked at Amyl and stared at the creature's large eye, big and black. It seemed to bear a sense of intelligence as it looked back at him. Maybe one day, he would start liking horses…or at least, Amyl.

"So, where do you live? And do you know a lot of people around here?" Ryan asked, again trying to strike up a conversation as he took a deep breath before exploding his questions on the unsuspecting cordial man. "Where are we going to put Amyl? Does he sleep in his own personal stall or does he belong to someone else and you're just borrowing? I don't find that very likely, you seem close to him."

Nadir smiled, amused, as though this was to be one of his most interesting decisions ever made: Bringing this oddball of a brother to his home was going to change his life entirely. He answered the questions patiently and cheerfully, finally glad that he had found someone who seemed to almost talk as much as him.