I'm prone to rash decisions.
Whats worse is I usually can't be reasoned out of them, not until its too late. Of course, the fact that nearly every hasty choice I've made, has resulted in a positive out come, didn't help in dissuading me ether. As Connor effortlessly flipped me over his shoulder and in to the dirt at his feet, I was beginning to think that joining the Assassins might not be one of those "positive" times.
"Ughh, I think you're getting faster..." I groaned at him from the dirt. He looked down at me, hair slightly tousled from the first four times he pulled the same maneuver on me.
"You are being to predictable." He chided as he offered a hand to me, I took it, not even bothering to try and dust my self off as I stood. Connors' been trouncing me for the past six days (or maybe five and a half would be more accurate), ever since I asked (or near on demanded) to become an Assassin. Achilles had questioned my decision, rightfully so, and I spent the rest of that day trying to justify it to him. I think in the end though, that the questions were less for his benefit, and more for my own. Like, it was as if Achilles want me to be sure, absolutely sure, that I wanted to become an Assassin.
Which I wasn't, not really.
"Oh, how so?" I asked him as I tried to stretch the soreness from my back. The man was trying to teach me the choker hold, something non-lethal and silent. Or supposed to be, anyway.
"I can hear your approach, you are also placing a hand on my shoulder before you loop your arm around. You need to be quieter, and simplify your actions. here turn around-" Connor gave my shoulder a nudge as I turned to put my back to him.
"You need to come up to your targets quietly, and quickly-" Faster then I could of blinked he snapped his arm around my neck in to a choker hold, his other hand clamping over my mouth.
"-subdue them." He wasn't actually choking me, but it had surprised me enough for me to grab hold of his arm, an automatic reaction if some one is trying to choke you. As he held me there in the crook of his arm, I realized the flaw in his teaching that was hindering me so. I fully understood what he wanted me to do, the only thing was, I wasn't physically able to do it. Connor offered no resistance as I pried his hand away from my mouth,
" Wait, hang on, I think I know whats wrong." He released his hold on me, letting me turn to face him, "Under normal circumstances your method would work, but we've both seemed to of overlooked something that has turned this in to an abnormal circumstance." Connor frowned quizzically at me, as I just stood there waiting for him to come to the realization him self. He didn't.
"What do you mean? How is this abnormal?"
I sighed as I held a hand up horizontally to my head, "I'm several inches shorter Connor, I think what you're hearing is me hopping, because if I don't-" I circled around Connor so I could demonstrate, reaching up and around his neck (without hopping and without standing on my toes) I was only able to bring my forearm to his throat. I fruitlessly tried crawling my fingers across his collarbone to try and bring my elbow in to the proper position, with no luck.
"I won't... be able... to... reach..." I groaned as I continued to try and stretch my arm up and around the significantly taller man. I heard an amused huff of air come from him as he pulled my arm away, turning around to face me with the smallest of smirks tugging at the corner of his mouth. Well I'm glad someone's amused. I thought as I looked at him.
For the few days I had been here, I could tell that Connor wasn't exactly a cheerful man. I'm not saying he was unpleasant to be around, just that he wasn't as lighthearted as I was, which may or may not have been a point of annoyance to the two men I currently found my self living with. Achilles I could understand for being as reclusive and somber as he was, after all, his wife and son were buried just out side his door. Connor on the other hand, I wasn't sure what made him quite so stoic, or reserved. I wondered if he had a loved one's gravestone some where, or if it had something to do with the name he shared on one of the gravestones by the manor. Whatever the origins of his taciturn ways, it was nice to see him smile, even if it was the slightest sliver of one.
"Perhaps there are other ways you could go about incapacitating a target." Connor said as the upward twitch of his mouth was chased away by concentration. We spent the next two hours going through maneuvers, trying to figure out which ones worked with my restrictions, what modifications could be done to make them work and so on. By the time Connor and I finished the lesson, the sun had risen to about mid day, giving off just enough late summer heat to drench us in our own sweat. The baggy, borrowed shirt I wore, clung to me uncomfortably as we walked back to the manor. And not for the first time that day, did I try to subtlety hitch my trousers back up from an uncomfortably low position on my hips.
Since I was dropped here with out a chance to pack, Diana and Connor had been kind enough to loan me a couple outfits. I wore an old pare of Connors trousers, along with an old shirt of his, during our training sessions, while Diana's dress' where reserved for less... physically demanding activities. Like sitting... and standing...
"You did well today, you have a natural fighters instinct." Connor said, looking over at me approvingly as we started to walked back to the manor. For some reason I felt bashful under his stare and quickly looked away from him.
"Well, I suppose I had a bit of a head start on hand to hand before I came here." I muttered at my boots.
"You were learning how to fight?" he asked. I turned back to look at him and gave a sheepish shrug.
"I wasn't trying to learn how to fight per se, more like trying to make sure my buddy's face didn't get smashed in." He gave me a quizzical look, clearly waiting for an explanation. I gave another shrug,
"The boys at the ranch were a rowdy bunch, we'd usually get in to scraps with each other, but it was all friendly." Connor looked skeptical at the prospect, but said nothing as I continued.
"The true trouble would happen when we'd go in to town for a drink. While the lot of us liked to have a good time, we usually tried to tone it down if we were in a public place. The only one who couldn't seem to do that, was my pal Skyler." I chuckled a little as I continued,
"He would get in to the worst sort of trouble," I felt the grin that had been plastered on my face begin to wilt, "But I was always there to get him out again." I felt a brief pang of homesickness and worry, Skylers' a big boy, I told my self, He'll be fine without you. That thought hurt more then it helped, but I shook it off. Now was not the time for moping.
So I turned back to Connor and tried my best to keep smiling, "Anyway, that was my uh, 'introduction' to hand to hand. A smack to the face and a boot to the gut." We reached the manor door then, where in side we found Achilles waiting for us in the hallway. Besides the lessons in fighting, Achilles was teaching me lessons for the brain,(philosophy, language, and few other things.) a lot of which I already knew (yay for modern schooling). He came to the conclusion in the fist few days that he could teach me little in these subjects, and instead focused on teaching me about the Assassins and Templars.
"There you are," the old man intoned, "I've decided to make a trip into town, and the two of you are coming with me." He stated, gesturing for us to follow him further in to the house.
" the house needs a few minor things, the horses need a blacksmith, and you Almira," Achilles turned slightly to point at me, "need your own cloths. You look like an animated pile of rags." He grumbled as he continued to limp down the hall. I chuckled lightly at the jib, fully agreeing with it, as the old man continued
"Since it's so late in the day, we will have to stay the night in Boston, so go and clean your selves up, I will assure everything else is ready. Although Connor," Achilles said as Connor and I begun to turn away towards the stairs, "I want to see you down stairs for a moment."
"Of course." Connor turned back to the old man and I continued to make my way to my room, taking the stairs two at a time.
If there was one thing I missed more then home, it was daily showers. "Farm girl" I my have been, but dammit I'm a clean one. Sure I could take baths, but I would have to not only take time to fill up a tub - by hand - but I would also have to empty that tub - by hand - once I was finished. Getting really clean around here took a lot of work and time. There was, at least, wash pans. Wash pans weren't as nice as showers or baths, but they provided enough water to get most of the dirt off. So I cleaned off what I could and dressed in some clean cloths. I figured that Achilles might appreciate it if I didn't wear the ill fitting shirt and trousers, Just so I wouldn't look like some stray they found and took pity on. (although I suppose that wasn't far from the truth.) so I opted instead to wear one of Diana's borrowed dresses.
I fumbled with the bodice for a moment, before I finally figured out how to lace the damn thing, and could move on to my hair. Which was a mess (but that's usual). I think it took me longer to comb through the birds nest on my head, then it had to wash and get dressed. By the time I was finally twisting it in to an organized knot at the back of my head, I heard a knock at the bed room door.
"Almira?" Came Connor's muffled voice. "we are ready to go, is every thing all right?" crap...
"Yes!" I shouted back as I begun to rush around the room, grabbing a clean shirt and trousers for sleeping, stuffing them all in to a small bag.
" I'm so sorry!" I said as I opened the door and scuttled out of my room, nearly slamming my skirt in the door in my haste. "I've never taken this long to get ready for anything I-" I stopped mid sentence when I turned around to see Connor, looking at me with a scrutinizing gaze. I immediately begun to panic,
"What? What is it? Am I wearing some thing backwards? In side out? Is it the bodice? It's the bodice isn't it?" I babbled as I looked down to examine the thing in question, then back at him. He suddenly seemed flustered,
"No, no, it is not... It is not any thing like that it..." He sighed and winced slightly, " I just did not expect to see you dressed as you are. You look... uh... nice." Connor said with a nod.
"Oh... Thank you." I mumbled. An awkward silence stretched between us for a moment before Connor cleared his throat and gestured towards the stairs.
"We should go, Achilles is waiting for us." I agreed, hurriedly going down the stairs and out the door, spotting Achilles and the carriage just in front of the manor.
"There you are child, are you ready to go?" the old man said from his perch in the drivers seat. Looking up at him I nodded,
"Yes, I'm sorry I took so long... I had trouble getting dressed." I shrugged as he chuckled slightly before patting the side of the carriage.
"Get in then, we best be off."
I fumbled a little trying to get in to the carriage, the skirts of the dress making normal movements cumbersome, but after a moment I was finally able to collect my self and climb in. Connor hopped in with relative ease shortly after me, unknowingly showing off his unhindered state as he took the seat across form me.
The two of us were quiet most of the ride, just watching the world go by, listening to nothing but the squeaking of the wheels, and the steady clip clop of the horses hooves. I snuck a few glances at Connor during the silence, sitting comfortably in the seat across from me, staring out the opposite window. I was curios about the man who lounged opposite of me, legs semi stretched out in front of him as he leaned against the carriage wall. I wondered what made him join the Assassins, where his family was, and what he was doing before he came to Achilles. I also wondered if he was as curios about me as I was of him.
I hadn't told them much about me, only that I came from place far north west of Massachusetts, and was working on a small cattle ranch before the Powers-That-Apparently-Be decided to bring me here. I just left out the time travel bit. I hadn't really spoken of my family, and little of the ranch during the few days I had been here, but in that time, neither man had said a peep about anyone outside of there "brotherhood". Well, I suppose I could try and see if I could get at least one of my questions answered.
"Connor, if I might ask, what made you want to join the Assassins?" I asked a little quietly. He turned and looked at me, blinking his dark brown eyes in surprise as he straightened in his seat. He was silent for a moment, making me think I might of asked something to personal, before he finally spoke,
"There was a crystal, much like yours, in my village that belonged to the Clan Mother. The Clan Mother was explaining to me why our village remained neutral, why we did not join with the other clans and fight. It was then that she gave me the crystal, and I spoke to a spirit in the nexus. She told me that if I stayed in the village, that men would come to drive my people off our land, but if I sought this symbol-" he said as he pointed to the tear drop shape on his bracer, "and learned from those who wielded it, then I could save my people."
I sat there for a moment, just staring at him. I would have been angry to learn that someone was planing to run my family out of there homes, and of course I would have taken action against it, but Connor seemed to have a certain fire in his eyes when he spoke of a possible attack. I felt my brow furrow slightly as I cocked my head to the side,
"Has anyone tried before?" I asked. Connor sighed as he leaned his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together as he did so. He was quiet for a moment before he begun speaking again,
"When I was five, men came to my village – Templars – and burned half of it to the ground because they could not find what they sought. My mother died in the fires that day." I winced. I couldn't really imagine what it would be like to lose a parent that way, or anyone really. I understood why he would be so eager to keep it from happening again.
"Oh Connor... I'm so sorry." I didn't know what else to say to that, I wasn't sure there really was anything else I could say to that. Connor sat across from me seemingly lost in thought, before he straightened up in his seat,
"Have you ever been to Boston?" He suddenly asked, catching me a bit off guard with the change of subject.
"Uh, no, I haven't. I've actually never been this far east before." It was the truth, when ever I traveled away from home it was almost always westward. I cocked my head at the man across from me, "Why do you ask?"
"I think you will like it, it is a... captivating place. " He said with a light smile on his face. I sort of doubted his statement, never really being one for cities, but I decided to humor him. Who knows, I just might actually like old Boston.
Okay I liked Boston. I hadn't even traveled beyond the blacksmiths shop and I already found the city charming. While Achilles and Connor sorted out boarding and shoeing for the horses, storage for the carriage, and rooms at the Inn, I was left to wander. As I stood out side the blacksmiths shop, I watched the people scurry about there business, floating in and out of shops and conversing in small groups on the sides of the cobble stone road. I had to keep reminding my self that this was in fact 1773, and not some over-the-top reenactment of the time period.
"Well?" came Connor's voice from behind me. I spun around to give him a slight glare for sneaking up on me, even though I should have been used to it by now. The man had a talent for being able to move silently, a necessity I suppose if your occupation is as an Assassin.
"Hmm?" I hummed inquisitively as he moved to stand beside me. Connor had flipped up the hood on his robes, obscuring half his face as he nodded to the city before him.
"Boston, what do you think of it?"
"Oh," I looked from him back to the scene before me. "Fascinating. It's all so very... different."
"Different? How so?"
"it's ah, bigger, then what I'm used to." I said with a nod, which – again - was the truth, I came from a small town, the likes of which only had one stop light. "also there's a lot more people, was never this crowded back at my home town." Connor nodded sightly at my words,
" I thought this city was incredible the first time I arrived," he said, watching the city go about it's business for a moment before continuing, " I suppose it still is, in its own way, but much of the charm it once held has diminished." I cocked an eye brow at his statement, turning my head to face him.
"What happened to change your mind?"
Connor glanced at me before looking back to the city, "I was accused of murder."
I blinked, feeling my other eye brow shoot up in surprise as I looked at the man next to me, "Murder? Did you kill someone?"
Connor slowly looked back to me with an expression of incredulousness on his face. Okay, yeah, I suppose that was a dumb thing to ask (again, Assassin). He stared at me for a second before he decided to answer;
"Yes, I did. I was trying to prevent the Templars from carrying out one of their schemes," He looked away from me and sighed, "But I was unsuccessful." He went silent for a moment, but before I could inquire further he turned towards me, gesturing to the road as he did so.
"Achilles has requested that I escort you to the tailors, come." Connor said as he stepped out on to the road, glancing back once to make sure I was following.
"What happened? ...If I might ask?" I said as I trotted up next to him, doing my utmost to keep up with his long, free strides. Damn skirts.
"About three years ago, there was a riot at the Custom House." He began, glancing at me for a moment, before slowing down to a pace that was less of a struggle for me. " the colonist were angry, taunting the British soldiers to fire at them if they dared, but to the soldiers credit, they did not. Not until the Templars intervened." Connor bit out the last sentence as we turned down another street, some what smaller then the one we were just on, but no less busy. I quirked a brow at him, but it went unnoticed as he continued,
"Achilles and I spotted a known Templar speaking to an accomplice of his. The Templar sent the man away to do who-knows-what, so Achilles instructed me to follow him. I trailed the man to a near by rooftop, where he prepared to fire in to the crowd, or the British soldiers." Connor said with a shrug, "Either way he had to be stopped. Unfortunately he was not the only one trying to escalate things. Another Templar, to far away from me to stop him, fired his pistol." He turned his hood to look at me, "And the British soldiers were soon to follow, taking the shot as a signal to fire in to the crowd. They spotted me on the rooftop then, believing me to be the catalyst to the event, and soon the entire city guard was trying to hunt me down."
I quirked an eye brow at him, "Clearly they didn't get you. How did you escape?" I asked, cocking my head to one side.
"An acquaintance of Achilles showed me how to dissuade the guards." He said as he slowly came to a stop, pulling out a small leather sack that he then gave to me. The bag was heavier then it looked, jingling slightly as he set it in my hands, must be coins.
"There are things I must attend to," Connor said before gesturing to the shop we stopped in front of. I hadn't noticed before, but we had apparently arrived at the tailors. "the funds should be sufficient for you to get a few pairs of cloths, when you are finished here you can meet Achilles back at the Inn. Do you remember the way?"
I looked back in the direction we came from, truthfully not really recalling much of the trek here. I was to engrossed in Connors tail to pay much attention to my surroundings. Looking back to him I nodded anyway,
"I will find my way." I said, confident in my sense of direction to lead me back. He stared at me for a moment, before he simply dipped his head in acknowledgment,
"Then I will meet you there." He said as he turned away from me, quickly weaving through the crowd and across the street to disappear down an ally way.
"Oookay..." I muttered, slightly perplexed at Connors abrupt departure, but shrugged it off as I turned and made my way to the shops entrance. I found my self pausing though, hand hovering over the door knob to the shop, feeling slightly scared about entering the establishment. It was silly really, I shouldn't of been intimidated at the thought of taking a simple shopping trip, but I was. Actually, that might have been it, this really wasn't a normal shopping trip, not for me anyway. Things were different here, strange, and foreign. I couldn't just walk in here, pick out a few pairs of cloths and be on my marry way, it didn't work like that. In fact I wasn't really sure how it worked. You know how you can fix that? Came a rather sassy voice in my head, you can grow a pair and find out for your self...
I sighed. The Voices never said anything kind.
However, it was right, I did need to stop being such a scared little bunny about this place. So I straightened my back and walked in to the shop. The bell over the door announced my entrance, causing the shopkeeper to look up from his work. He smiled a well practiced, falsely friendly, smile as he came around the counter.
"Welcome miss! Is there anything I can assist you with today?" the tall, thin, tailor chirped as he walked up to me.
"Yes actually," I said as I glanced around the tinny shop. There were a few busts in here, some adorned with half made shirts and dresses, while others looked completely finished. A couple bolts of fabric were laid out on a table, next to an old fashioned sowing machine that looked shiny and new. I looked back to the beanstalk of a man, who stood gazing down his beak like nose at me,
"I need a few pairs of shirts and pants." the false smile on the mans face faltered a bit,
"Pants, miss?" He said to me, most likely braking the blinks-per-second record. I frowned at him for a moment, wondering what had flustered him so, till I remembered.
" OH! Trousers! I meant trousers!" I nearly shouted in my haste, "Sorry its uh... Its been an... interesting day." I added with a shrug, trying to cover up my slip up. The stork like shopkeeper seemed to buy my simple story, nodding understandingly and gesturing for me to come further in to the shop.
"Of course miss, of course. Now the cloths, they for a husband? Brother? Father? And would you happen to know there measurements? I have a few pre-made shirts and trousers here." the man said, indicating neatly folded shirts, trousers and other garments on shelves pushed up against the far wall.
"Um, no, the cloths are actually for me." I said to him. He started blinking again.
"For you, miss? That doesn't seem, uh" he stammered before I held up a hand. It appeared I would have to concoct a story to pacify the man.
"Yes, for me. My... uncle... is short on workers at his farm, so he has put me to work to help 'earn my keep'" I said trying to sound peeved at the idea. "And I've tried working in my dresses, but I've torn two already and just yesterday I tripped over the horse's trough and landed face first in to a pile of manure, and to top it off,-" I added, probably laying it on a little thick, but judging by his facial expression, he was buying my fake tale of woe. "-My skirts had completely flipped over my head! I've been the laughing stock of the house ever since! I will not risk a repeat offense, so shirts and trousers it is, at least until I can convince my uncle that I am not suited for such tasks."
The stork of a man gave me a knowing nod before leading me off to take my measurements, saying that it would only take a few minor adjustments to fit the cloths to me. The process didn't take long, and I was soon confronted by another avenue of knowledge that was different in this time period.
Currency.
The tailor (who's name turned out to be Darcy) had asked for a down payment on the cloths, and I -not knowing the worth of the different sized and minted coins in the bag- simply emptied half the bag in my hand and held it out to him. I again, cooked up an on-the-spot excuse, this time for why I didn't know the value of the coins, and Darcy again, bought in to my fib. The man took two of the coins from my out stretched hand, informing me that the cloths should be ready by mid day tomorrow, before wishing me a good afternoon as I exited the shop.
That wasn't so bad now, was it? The sassy voice was back, taunting me as I turned in the direction Connor and I originally came from. Again, it was right, the ordeal wasn't as bad as I had originally thought. I really needed stop dreading this whole thing so much, if I just relaxed a bit I would probably have an easier time blending in.
By this time, the streets were beginning to thin out in the late afternoon-early evening sun, people finishing up there shopping and what not before they went home for the day. It should have been my clue to hurry to the Inn, but no, I had to just mosey on down the road, taking in the sights.
I had paused in my saunter back to the Inn, staring at the sight of a hog walking down the street, when out of no where I was tackled to the ground by a foul-smelling pile of rags. Instinctively I had thrust my hands out to brake my fall, letting go of the coin pouch I had been clutching in them, and I that's exactly what the rag pile wanted. A dirt covered hand snatched the bag off the ground before I had even completely finished falling, scurrying off in the direction of an ally way across the street.
"COME BACK HERE!" I screeched, squabbling to my feet and tearing after the stinking, thieving, pile of filth. Heads turned, and passers-by jumped out of the way of my quarry and I, no one bothering to stop the cut purse or even attempt to slow him down. The thief was quick, and had the advantage of knowing the city, but I had the stubbornness of a mule, and I was NOT letting him get away with coins. So I chased him, skidding around corners and darting down various ally ways, till the sucker ran right in to a dead end.
He faced me then, breathing heavily from the chase he gave, small beads of sweat streaking down his face accenting how dirty it was. I would have felt sorry for the boy (for that was what he was, a boy. He could be no older then sixteen.) it was obvious that he was homeless, most likely orphaned as well, and in desperate need of help. I would have let him have a few coins if he had given up then, so he could at least maybe get some food, but the look he gave me.
The boy was grinning, like a cat staring down a trapped mouse, displaying plaque covered, crooked teeth. Chuckling he shook his head at me,
"Ya shouldn'ta followed me missy."
"Cuz our boy lead you straight in to our territory..." came a cocky unfamiliar voice behind me. Balls...
I turned around to face the speaker, who stood a few paces away flanked by three of his cronies. The speaker looked older then the boy who stole the coins, a little closer to my age in fact, late teens to early twenties. He wore a slightly tattered tri-cornered hat, that sat on his head at an angle, adding to his crooked look with a slanted smile that he flashed at me.
"Whats a pretty thing like you do'n chasing poor little Joe for eh?" he drawled, his eyes roving down from my face then back up, his cocky grin growing more lecherous as he did so. I felt my lip curl slightly at his gaze, taking a few steps away from him as he slowly started to saunter towards me.
"He has something that doesn't belong to him." I growled at the crooked man, glancing over my shoulder at "Joe" who was still grinning, swinging the coin purse in his hands. "And I would really like it back." I said glaring at the kid. He just chuckled.
"Aw now we can't be do'n that, now can we boys?" the leader of the five said, causing the rest of the boys to respond with grunts and snickerings of "No sir," "Not a chance". The leader nodded his head, agreeing with his underlings statements before looking back at me,
"But I'll tell ya what we will do. We'll let ya leave here all safe and sound, so longs as you don't call the guards, and-" he licked his lips as he stepped closer to me, looking me up and down again, "If ya let me have a peek under those pretty skirts of yours." He chuckled, the rest of them joining him.
I sighed, sneering at the lecher in front of me, who seemed to be waiting for an answer.
Okay, I hate Boston.
I thought about screaming for help, but considering how attentive people had been during the chase, I doubted that would be very beneficial. So, I was left with one option, changing my sneer to a sardonic grin I replied,
"Ooh, you want a peek?" and proceeded to yank my skirts clear up to my knees. For about point two seconds the leader stood gawking at my legs, right before my newly unencumbered boot met his groin. Before the leader even hit the ground I rounded on a stunned looking Joe, delivering an upper cut that sent him reeling and the coin bag flying.
By this time one of the leaders cronies was able to gather his senses and go on the attack, grabbing my arm in an attempt to restrain me. Spinning around I socked him in the jaw, causing him to lurch backwards tripping over the leaders body who was still moaning on the ground. I was able to stay on my feet as the kid fell over, wrenching my wrist from his grasp as he tumbled, causing a little bit of my sleeve to tear. Joe was on his feet by then, bellowing as he came charging at me. This of course announced his intention, allowing me to easily doge his mad rush to tackle me. Joe was able to miss tripping over his leader, but couldn't stop him self from toppling the only member of the group that hadn't taken a swing at me.
By now the leader had over come most of the pain, lurching up from the ground to try and tackle my legs. He was successful in nabbing one, causing me to stumble, falling on to my back side. The leader wasted no time in crawling his way up my body, ignoring the kicks I was trying to deliver to him as he did so. He was able to pin one of my hands next to my head, but didn't bother restraining the other one as he raised his fist to strike. With my free hand I was able to deflect the brunt of the blow, but I wasn't fast enough to avert the strike entirely. His fist glanced the side of my mouth, causing me to bite my tongue a little bit and my lip to split open.
I didn't give him a chance to try again though, wrapping my legs around his waist I rolled us over, quickly jumping to my feet, and jerking my arm from his grasp as I did so. The leader seemed a little stunned as he laid there for a moment, before he scrambled to his feet to come at me with a shout grabbing me around my waist. I was able to divert his tackle in to a near by wall, knocking the wind out of me but knocking the senses out of him, seeing as he smacked in to it face first. He backed off clutching his head, which gave me the opportunity to spin him around and quite literally kick him the ass.
His comrades caught him as he stumbled in to them, helping him keep his feet as he staggered slightly, still stunned from running in to the wall. There was a pause then, as the lot of them faced me with varying looks of shock, pain, and from the leader, out right loathing. Blood dripped in to his eye as he glowered at me,
"You bitch..." he growled wiping away the blood. He looked around him self then, noticing right about the same time I did, that I was a cornered rat. The leader grinned smugishly at me,
"Well, well... seems the little spitfire is cornered," he chortled, gesturing to the others around him, "And out numbered. You surprised us before with your tricks, but now we're ready for ya." he said as they started forward. the boy's didn't seem that threatened by me now, some grinning while others cracked there knuckles at me in intimidation attempts. It didn't last long though, they hadn't taken two steps forward when a sudden, solid sounding thud came from behind me, causing them to stop dead in their tracks. I jumped and spun around at the sound, raising a fist to strike, but froze when I recognized who it was,
"Connor?"
He ignored me for the moment, instead focusing solely on the thieves in front of him, pulling out his tomahawk and activating his hidden blade as he made his way forward. The gang bolted then, tripping over each other in their attempts to flee, with shouts of "Run!" "forget this!" "I like my hide!" before Connor could even come within striking distance of them. He stood there a moment, just watching as the last of the thieves disappeared around the corner before sheathing his weapons and turning back to me.
"What are you doing here?" Connor said, puzzlement evident in his voice as he frowned at me from under his hood.
"Oh, I got done at the shop early and I thought 'Hey,-'" I chirped shrugging my shoulders a bit, "'you know what would complete my experience of this town? Getting mugged.'" I ended, rolling my eyes and planting my hands on my hips. Connor's frown deepened, apparently my sarcasm wasn't appreciated.
"Look, I was just on my way back to the Inn when one of those boys nabbed the coin pouch you gave me. So... I chased him to get it back, and then... things got interesting." I sighed looking away from him and to the ground, trying to find the troublesome bag. Spotting it, I scooped it up, handing it to Connor,
"Can we just get to the Inn?" I said, dabbing at the corner of my mouth with my finger, smearing the blood there. I winced when I looked at my hand, seeing the end of my finger covered in blood. Well I'm just a fine mess aren't I?
Connor took a half step closer to me when I pulled my hand away, cocking his his head a little and extending his own hand,
"Are you all right?"
I waved him off, frowning slightly as I made my way out of the dead-end ally.
"I'm fine Connor. Honestly, if I couldn't take a few hits I wouldn't of joined the order."
Connor sighed slightly as he followed me out, quickly taking the lead back to the Inn. The two of us were quiet for a while, till Connor broke the silence.
"You fight better during our training sessions." he stated rather matter-of-factly, causing me to snort disbelievingly as I rounded on him,
"OF COURSE I fight better during training sessions! BECAUSE I AM NOT WEARING A SKIRT!" I nearly shouted at him, grabbing hand fulls of my skirt and shaking it in emphases. "Unless you're proposing I start wearing a dress to practice in... Honestly, it takes an entirely different kind of... skill to fight in a skirt." I said rather saucily, crossing my arms and glaring at him. He huffed slightly at me,
"Your methods were rather unorthodox." He said ignoring my scowl.
"Pfft... 'unorthodox'-" I scoffed " If I tried any sort of traditional methods I would of ended up flat on my-" ...wait. I paused for a second, giving his offhanded statement a moment to sink in.
"Were you watching me?!" I said feeling my glower deepen as I slowly came to a stop. He paused mid step, giving me a look that just confirmed my suspicions.
"how long were you just standing there, watching me flail about like over turned turtle?" I squeaked angrily at him.
" I was up on the roof top, when I saw you run in to the ally after the boy. I decided to see how you would handle things." Connor said giving me a miniscule shrug, before the corner of his mouth twitched up ever so slightly. "I suppose you did, in your own way." Oh balls he saw it all... I felt heat rise to my cheeks, and not all of it was anger. I quickly spun away from him, growling through gritted teeth as I did so, resuming my march towards the Inn. I could here Connors soft foot falls as he came after me,
"Almira-"
"UHG! I can't believe you just... ERG! I mean really, oh my GOD Connor-" I stopped suddenly rounding on him again, holding up a splayed hand to his face, causing him to lurch back a bit.
"I've had five full days of training. FIVE." I was nearly shouting again, waving my hand in his face. I probably was over reacting, but at the moment, I didn't care.
"Do you really expect me to be magically fantastic at fighting in just five days?! I... Just... ERRGH!" I stomped off again, rounding the bend in the road to finally come in sight of the Inn.
"Almira, that is not what-"
"Oh isn't it?" I growled over my shoulder at him, making a bee line for the Inn.
"No it is not." he said sternly, following hot on my heels.
" Well, you're doing a marvelous job of showing it."
"Almira..." Connor grabbed my shoulder, halting my progress to the Inn and turning me to face him, "I did not intend to-"
"Connor, quite frankly I don't care what you intended," I bit out, before jerking my shoulder out of his grip and resuming the short walk to the Inn's door. "Because either way, it's insulting." I heard him call after for a fourth time that night, but ignored him as I reached the door.
The place was busy but wasn't overly crowded as I entered, and only a couple patrons looked at my disheveled appearance with alarm. A quick scan of the place allowed me to spot Achilles, sitting in a poorly lit, back corner talking to another man who's face I couldn't see. I immediately stared weaving my way through the tables towards him, at the moment, I wanted nothing more then to clean up and get out of this damn dress.
"Almira," Achilles said with a look of surprise as I came up next to the table he was seated at, "what happened? Are you all right?" I sighed and shook my head,
"long story short; trouble, and honestly I'm fine." I sighed again, "Achilles do we have rooms here? I'd really like to clean up." Achilles nodded and began to stand,
"Of course, let me get the Inn keeper."
"No need Achilles, allow me." said the other man at the table, who I hadn't even acknowledged till now. He looked to be in his late thirties or early forties, with brown hair that was pulled back in to a pony tail. His cloths looked a little ragtag, but the man carried him self with a dignified air, like he was proud to be who he was. The man stood, raising his hand to catch the attention of an average looking woman, who had been attending to several other tables. Spotting us the woman nodded, letting us know she'll be right there in a moment, allowing the man time to introduce him self. Turning to me he smiled,
"You must be the new arrival Achilles mentioned, I'm Samuel Adams." the man said with a polite bow of his head. I was rather proud of my self, for not displaying the fact that I was stunned to near silence at meeting one of America's Founding Fathers. I smiled at Adams, giving him my best attempt at a curtsy,
"I'm Almira Woodson. Pleasure to meet you."
"Almira, what a lovely name, I- Connor!" Adams' attention was diverted behind me, raising his hand in greeting to the very man I was currently trying to get away from. Connor stepped up beside me, giving Adams a friendly, but distracted, greeting before turning to me. Unfortunately (but thankfully) he didn't get a chance to say anything, before he could get a word out the woman ( who I assumed to be the Inn keepers wife... or daughter, it was hard to tell.) walked up.
"Is their something I can do for you?" She said with the slightest hint of a British accent, smiling politely at Adams. It was Achilles, however, who responded.
"Would you take Almira here to her room? She's had a long day." the woman wrinkled her nose at Achilles, before she turned and asked me to follow her. The rooms Achilles and Connor had procured were up a set of stairs and down a hall that, from the sounds of it, was situated right above the tavern below. She lead me all the way down the hall, stopping at the second to last room on the right.
"I'll bring you some hot water and a towel." she said as she opened the door to the room, letting me step in side.
"Oh, um," I mumbled as I spun around to face her, catching her before she left, "would it be possible for me to borrow a needle and thread?" I said gesturing to my torn sleeve. The woman smiled politely, assuring me she could accommodate me, before disappearing down the hall. The room I was apparently staying in was small, with a cramped but clean looking bed pushed against the wall, and a small dresser and heating stove across from it. There was also a window sporting an exciting view of neighboring roof top, the likes of which seemed to need repair.
It was several minutes later before the woman came back, carrying a small wash pan with a steaming pitcher of water, and a towel over her shoulder. She set the pan, pitcher and towel down on the dresser, pulling out a spool of thread from her apron pocket and adding it to the collection.
"If you need anything else, just let us know." she said as she walked out of the room, not waiting for a response. I thought her abruptness was odd, but brushed it off, currently not really caring. What I did care about, was getting this dress off and cleaning up. I immediately stripped off the dress and put on the shirt and trousers I had brought with me, before going over to the wash pan to take care of my face.
My lip stung a bit as I cleaned it, but really didn't look that bad once all the dirt and blood was gone(my hair was a mess though, even after I let it down and combed though it with my fingers, but that seemed to be a fact of life for me.). By the time I had done all this the room was rather dark, with night settling in and all that. So I set to work, lighting a couple candles and a single lantern by the bed to illuminate the room. After that was all said and done, I set to the task of trying to stitch the dress back together. The tear in the sleeve really wasn't that bad, but it still needed to be fixed, and while my seamstress skills were not something to brag about, I could still mend simple rips. Curling up on the bed, next to the lantern I begun slowly stitching the sleeve back together. However about half way through the process, there came a knock on my door.
"Almira? May I speak with you?"
It was Connor. I sighed, now that I wasn't boiling in embarrassment and anger, I did feel a little regretful over some of the things I said.
"Yeah, come in."
The door slowly opened, reveling a slightly wary Connor, who's hair looked lightly tousled from spending most of the day in his hood. stepping in to the room and closing the door to behind him (but not letting it lach.)He looked at me, standing there awkwardly for a moment, before he finally spoke,
"I... need to apologize." he said, glancing down at his feet. To be honest I really wasn't expecting an apology, not a straight-up one anyway. I expected to wake up tomorrow morning and have a series of awkward, stinted conversations, that would eventually lead to awkward, stinted apologies.
At least this cut to the chase.
"It was not my intention to insult you," Connor said as he looked from his feet back to me, " You have shown much skill in training, and demonstrated your ability when you were in the ally. I should not of made light of it the way I did, and for that I am sorry." He said, shifting his weight from foot to foot, glancing between his toes and me. I sighed, looking away from him and to my hands, currently twisting the half mended dress between them selves.
"I need to apologize too." I mumbled at my lap before looking back up to see Connors confused yet curios face. "I... probably over reacted a bit." I set the sewing aside as I stood, pulling my hair over my shoulder to fidget with it.
"Me getting so up set was mostly due to... embarrassment." Connor looked perplexed for a moment before it seemed to dawn on him.
"Oh..."
"I don't run around in a dress and at the first sign of trouble show a bunch of leg, I-" I rubbed my face to keep from looking at him, feeling heat rise to my ears and cheeks as I tried to explain my self.
"It was just the first thing that popped in to my head when that guy was all like 'lift up your skirt! Give us peek!' I just thought 'what the hell? It'll distract them and free up my boot.' and it did and it worked and... honestly you really can't keep much propriety when fighting in a skirt anyway so why not-"
"Almira." Connor said, placing a hand on my shoulder to stop my ranting and pacing. I hadn't realized I was pacing. I looked at him and sighed.
"Look I'm sorry, really. I was just embarrassed... and apparently I still am. I mean, the reason I was okay with hiking up my skirts in front of them, was because I was planning on kicking there ass' anyway. So-"
"Almira..." Connor interrupted me again, this time with a slightly amused look on his face. " I understand. I also apologize for teasing you on this," He let go of my shoulder to take a step back, " It probably did not help with matters."
"No, not really..." I said, feeling the corner of my mouth twitch up slightly at his expression, "But honestly, I could be a better sport about these things. I mean really Connor," I said shrugging my shoulders and planting my hands on my hips, "you can answer this honestly; you thought it was damn funny when I pulled that stunt and started the fight didn't you?"
He crossed his arms as he leaned back a little, the corner of his mouth inching a little higher as he did so. "I found it... amusing."
I found my self chuckling, as I shook my head at him, the two of us just standing there grinning at each other. After a moment Connor glanced around before looking back to me, idly scratching the back of his neck.
"I should let you get some rest." he said, taking a step towards the door.
"Yeah, I... suppose I should let you get some too." I said a little lamely, my hands returning to my hair to fidget with.
He smiled one of his small smiles at me again as he reach the door, "Good night Almira."
" g'night Connor."
Connor gave me one last nod before he left, shutting the door behind him.
I still wasn't completely confident about being here, or about joining the Assassins. Although if people like Connor were wrapped up in it all, I think I'd probably make it. Maybe this whole time-travel brew-ha-ha wasn't going to be such a bad thing after all.
AN: Hey everyone! I want to apologize about this chapter taking so long, it was delayed for a number of reasons (one of which is I got really sick. but Im better now!) I also sort of lost my notes on where this chapter was going so it ended up becoming something of a filler chapter, so sorry about that too. Hoepfully the next chapter will be a lot more fun! anyway, thanks for reading The Long Road, I'm really happy that people out there like it :)
