*I do not own Assassin's Creed*

Chapter 4

"Ok, then." I shrugged and picked up my staff. Ezio grinned and grabbed his.

"Hold on, I'm sure the others will want to see this!" Matteo ran off to gather some other Assassins watch Ezio get beat.

A few minutes later, at least ten Assassins and quite a few mercenaries and thieves were gathered. Ezio and I stood in the middle of the arena, Ezio ginning as though he'd already won and me smirking.

Someone called go and Ezio leapt toward me, throwing a quick combination of moves and a hard swing toward my side. I parried the combination and stepped back as he swung the staff. I whacked the back of the staff as it swung by, sending Ezio out of control. He spun and staggered a few steps away before gaining control. A ripple of laughter went around the crowd and Ezio glared at me.

A voice I would know anywhere started calling moves to Ezio and I grimaced. Matteo was one of the only people who could beat me in single combat, and now he was calling moves to Ezio, an already good fighter. This was going to be interesting.

One advantage I did have was that I would hear what Matteo was calling when Ezio did. But that still didn't help much, because Ezio was fast and tended to react the moment he was told to do something.

"Feint left then right then back left again!" Matteo called, and Ezio was swinging the second left strike almost before Matteo was finished. I dove to the ground, rolling past Ezio and coming behind him, swinging at his side, willing Matteo to shut up. Of course, he didn't listen.

"Spin, duck, swing and roll back!" I tried to swing at Ezio's neck before he could duck but was a moment too late. I immediately jumped up as Ezio's staff sliced through the space my legs had been in a moment before. I leapt forward, landing a glancing blow on Ezio's left shoulder, but had to jump back before I could do any real damage.

We fight went on like that for several more minutes, me dodging Ezio's blows fairly easily, but unable to land any solid hits on him.

Finally, I'd had enough of it, and as I ducked a slice to my head, I snatched a throwing knife out of my boot. As I pulled my arm back, I calculated where Ezio's staff was going to be and threw the blade. It thumped solidly into Ezio's staff and he stared at the still vibrating blade in his staff. I used that opening immediately and threw a dizzying sequence of slices and blows at Ezio and he backed up, lost. Matteo couldn't call out actions fast enough for Ezio to respond and Ezio fell back under the hail of blows until he was backed up against the wall. I set my staff against his neck. He looked at me, a mixture of awe and fear in his eyes.

I took my staff away from Ezio's neck and said, "Good job. With practice, you could be able to do that without your unwanted crutch." I turned to glare in Matteo's direction, but he had wisely made himself scarce.

After a moment, Ezio grinned. "You're just lucky that he couldn't keep up at the end."

I sighed. "You just keep telling yourself that..." Gesturing at his staff I said, "Can I see that for a second?" he looked confused for a second, then looked down and saw my throwing knife embedded in his staff.

"Oh, sure. That was some great throwing." I nodded my thanks for the compliment and jerked my knife out.

"Thanks. I've been training since I was five," I said as I slid the knife back into my boot and straitened up. A bell rang, signaling midday meal. The crowd around the arena broke up. I grinned when I saw some of the spectators hand another spectator money, grumbling.

"Let's get some food, I'm starved!" Ezio jogged out of the arena and set his staff on the weapons rack. I followed, smiling, and set my staff on the rack. "Race you to the dining hall!" and took off.

Ezio dashed after me, laughing. I ran through the halls and was surprised to hear Ezio's footsteps get louder as he caught up with me. Sooner than I thought possible, I felt him push me to the side and he passed me, slid around the corner, and stumbled right into the dining hall. He turned and grinned at me. "You may be good at fighting, but no one can beat my speed!"

"Ok, Captain Speed. Let's get some food." I said, nudging him out of the doorway and towards food. Once we got some food, we headed a table where Matteo, Rachele, and a few others were.

I set my plate down at an empty spot and casually walked over to Matteo and whacked him upside the head. I then walked back to my chair and, smiling, sat down without a word. Rachele stifled a giggle.

Matteo's face turned red and I smiled smugly. I glared at him, waiting for the explosion. Finally he met my steady gaze and exclaimed, "It's not against the rules, you know! And you started using your throwing knives when he just had a staff, and he wouldn't have lasted long, and... And I'm not going to apologize to you!" The others struggled to keep straight faces and Ezio pretended to cough into a napkin, but I saw the corners of his mouth turn up.

"Apology accepted," I said, grinning. I knew exactly how to push Matteo's buttons. He grumbled, but grinned back.

After we were done eating I took Ezio outside and we ran across the rooftops, practicing free-running for that night's game. Then I had just enough time to show him the basics of knife throwing before the dinner bell rang.