TheForestChapter 4

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"Desmond?" Abby said and her pace slowed as she said it. A thought had appeared in her head and she was trying to think through it but she needed help to solve the question puzzling her.

"Yeah?" he answered as he came to a stop, he looked at Abby's thoughtful expression and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion at her expression.

"Do you remember seeing Ezio kill Vieri di Pazzi?" she asked - she had seen the Animus footage and seen it for herself. The rage on his face was scary but had brought back memories of him and that gave her some comfort.

"Uh yeah I do why?" he answered unsurely since he had no idea what Abby was thinking about. Her reaction to his words only made him more confused. "What? What's wrong?"

"I just don't understand how that's possible considering I killed him just now. Really Ezio should have killed him but he didn't, I did. You shouldn't remember Ezio killing him."

"But I do."

"But you do." Abby echoed as she tried to think how it was possible. She should have changed history and therefore altered his memories but she hadn't and she hadn't the faintest clue how that was possible.

"Hey don't strain yourself worrying about it, it'll come to you eventually." Desmond said as Abby's expression continued to look worried and frustrated as she continued to try to solve the question that was bugging her.

"Hopefully." She said showing a little bit of her obvious anger with a sigh but her expression soon cleared a little as she took his advice. "Hey how much water do you have left?"

Desmond took out his stolen canteen and shook it, only a light slosh could be heard in the metallic container.

"Not much but at least it's a modern bottle." Desmond said, replacing it in his bag before slinging it back on his back. Abby knew there was a water source in this place so she got out Vieri's map and waited for it to load.

"I saw a river on here earlier but I'm not really sure where it compared to where we are-"

SNAP

Abby was cut off by the metallic sound echoing through the misty air and the sound was quickly followed by a male scream of pain combined with a few colourful swear words. The scream was loud enough to make Abby wince.

"Shaun?!" Desmond said, whipping around in the vague direction the sound came from. The concern in his voice made it easy to guess that Desmond knew the owner of the voice. Before Abby could ask though Desmond sprinted away through the trees leaving her staring blankly at his back momentarily before she began to pursue him.

She didn't call out but she had to stop to listen momentarily once or twice when he was lost to her in the mist. Almost straight away though she heard his running, and sometimes tripping, feet close by or she would hear him call to the injured man –which made her wince since that wasn't exactly the best tactic with a possibility of enemies nearby by.

Soon enough Abby caught up with him though now he was standing completely stock still while staring in horror at the scene in the clearing before him.

A man, presumably Shaun, was lying almost motionless with one of his legs torn to bits in a large, rusted and creepy looking fox trap. There was blood everywhere and she could see Desmond swallow as he registered blood soaking the front of the man's grey sweater. Abby couldn't see anyone around but she knew they must be nearby if not watching. It wasn't safe but as soon as Desmond all but sprinted towards the man Abby knew she had to abandon all thoughts of being safe now.

"Shaun!" Desmond said as he knelt beside the man who was still alive and awake.

"Oh great," the man groaned though his voice was quiet and weak. "No angel or white light. Just Desmond. I feel like I've been cheated."

Even from where Abby was standing she could see the corners of Desmond's mouth turn up into a smile.

"Y'know with you like this I would've thought you'd be less of a dick but obviously not." Desmond though his tone was joking. Shaun gave a huff that resembled both a slight laugh and a sigh. Desmond's attention then turned to the foxtrap that still had its jaws around the man's leg.

"I'm gonna try and get this off. This might hurt a bit." Desmond said as he tried to get one hand underneath the heavy metal to grip one jaw while his other gripped the top one.

"Oh no I thought it was going to feel like being tickled with a feather" Shaun said with pained sarcasm as his voice now became a little strained as Desmond moved the trap. Desmond gave a slight chuckle before trying with all his might to pull the foxtrap apart enough for Shaun's leg to be moved. Desmond tried this continuously for many minutes without much success except maybe for it to move a centimetre from it's other jaw.

"Hang in there Shaun." Desmond exclaimed without looking back or waiting for a response.

"Desmond."

"Almost got it."

"Desmond."

"Abby could you come help me? I think I almost got it."

"Desmond he's gone." Abby said as she placed a hand on the man's tense shoulder. Her eyes were sad but sympathetic as she saw Desmond's head hang for a moment. She had been there, done that and bought the t-shirt. She had seen Shaun's life drain from him and had gone over to him while Desmond was fruitlessly struggling to free him. She had taken the liberty of checking the man's eyes were closed and saying the words she said to any lost brother or sister in the Order. It was not just his leg that was hurt, Shaun had been shot in a place that meant he would take the longest to die.

It was cruel but it hurt her more to know that she had done the same to Templar agents so she could get information out of them with the security of knowing they wouldn't make it back to their base alive. She was a hypocrite and she knew it.

Desmond stayed in the same place, his hands still gripping the metal tightly but she knew he wasn't crying. She didn't think it suited him after all he was an Assassin too and he witnessed both friends and foe dying in front of his ancestor's eyes. To some extent he was used to it but you could never get used to the death of a friend or loved one completely. No matter how much death you witnessed or served.

"Here, let me help." Abby said and she gripped the metal too though she was still careful of the leg ensnared in it. Eventually, with their strength combined, they were able to remove Shaun's leg and lay him to rest properly. "I'll give you some time alone."

Desmond shook his head and stood up with her.

"No it's okay," he said quietly. " I'm fine."

Abby nodded with complete empathy and didn't push it any further.

"You never know that could've been there before the Templars arrived." Abby said though she didn't really believe it. Templars could play as dirty if they put the effort in - which they often did. Assassins could play dirty too but most of the time they didn't have the upper hand or had enough resources or time to do the same.

"Maybe." Desmond said though he sounded like he didn't believe that either. "Which way do we go now?"

"Anywhere but here." Abby replied as she patted her pockets and realised that she had lost her map to the forest. She must have dropped it when following Desmond. It worried her to lose such a valuable piece of equipment but she took a breath and pushed that feeling away. It wouldn't do any good to worry about it now that it was lost.

Desmond paused for a moment before he turned and began to walk in the direction that seemed both random yet thought out. If where Abby was facing was north, then Desmond was walking north west. She followed him and she noticed him pause, tense then continue walking. He was declining the thought of looking back at his sleeping friend one last time. Both of them knew it would hurt more that way.

Eventually they found a stream and managed to fill their canteens and got a minute's rest before forcing themselves onwards once the paranoia of resting while in danger kicked in. That paranoia kicked in throughout the rest of the day until it was so black they could barely see each other let alone the ground.

Since making a fire was not the best idea, they resolved to sit silently in the darkness taking turns to stay alert while the other slept.

"I'll go first." Desmond said volunteering easily before Abby could do the same.

"Alright," Abby said laying down on the ground close to where she heard his voice coming from. "They're probably not going to come after us in this but obviously wake me if they do or when you get tired."

"Will do." Desmond said before everything was once again dipped into silence again. Even with the paranoia of the enemy and the extremely uncomfortable ground, Abby didn't find it took long to drift off to sleep.

...

Abby winced as the first few rays of sunlight filtered through her eyelids causing her to see peachy orange. Once she realised it was morning she shot up and looked at the empty space around her.

"Desmond?" she asked now standing up and looking around at the silent forest around her. No reply. At her feet was her pack but Abby noticed it was slightly less full than it was before. She opened it and found that half of the supplies had gone along with the torch and the small medical kit. Desmond had left her in the night and Abby didn't know whether to be angry or concerned. In the end she settled for both.

"Damn it Desmond why would you run off?" she asked herself as she walked through the mist back in the direction she thought they had come. Finding Desmond was hopeless but she wanted to go back to the stream to gain some sort of familiarity and landmark. Once there she would follow it for a little while until it became wider and flowed into flatter land. She remembered the stronghold was in the middle and now that became her target. Cross was definitely going to be there and she wanted him to die as much as she wanted to survive. She was going to have retribution and she was going to have it soon.

Everything went to plan until the barrel of a pistol appeared right in front of her eyes and forced her to stop.

{Iamsosorryfortheshortnessofthischapter, Ijusthavesomanyexamsandschoolthingsasoflatesowasstrugglingtogetsomethingdone!

Remembernextchapterwilldetaileveryoneelseinthecharacterlistthatisn'tmentionedinotherchapters. Icanpromisethatwillbealongoneso :D}