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"No! You're swinging at her like a ninny. What's the matter with you, boy?!" Achilles scolded Ratonhnhaké:ton.
"She's a girl!" he defended, arm gesturing to said Octavia with her hand on her hip as she giggled.
"And what is your point?" their Mentor asked him.
"I cannot hit her." he said, looking to see her sticking her tongue out, taunting him.
"Do you think she will spare you the same because you're being soft on her?"
"No..." he scowled in her direction.
"Well?" Achilles asked, walking behind him, "You need to know each other's strengths and weaknesses. You need to know how to counter each other's attacks. You need to know how to support each other's attacks as well—what you each can do to cause a devastating strike on the enemy together. You may be sparring now, but you two must be in unison when it comes to actually confronting your enemies. You need to know what to do next when the other makes a move. You need to know how to defend each other against your enemies." he lectured them, "Ah...but you will become better at this over time." he finished, looking at the two who nodded in agreement. He turned to face the manor, "You two go and train in the woods, concentrate on sharpening other aspects of your training like climbing and balancing." he coached, beginning to wobble off.
"Sì, signore." Octavia complied.
"And don't come back until the sun begins to set." he ordered. "Lord knows I need a break from their bickering..." he spoke to nobody in particular.
"Come on, Ratonhnhaké:ton." she spoke to her partner, gesturing with her hand for him to follow as she began walking off without him. He began walking in the direction she chose, "You know, you should not be afraid of trying to hit me." she informed him.
"I'm not going to hit a silly girl." he said, headstrong in not truly sparring with her.
"I have told you to stop calling me that countless times, yet you do not heed my words. Besides, you should not be calling me a 'silly girl' when it is you who fights like one." she stated with a smirk forming across her lips.
"What?" he asked, offense clear in his tone.
"You heard me." she answered back in a rather taunting tone.
He stayed silent, watching the back of her head as he began running up to her. By the time Octavia had turned around to face him, she was tackled to the ground. They rolled for second before she got to her feet, taking a defensive position. He followed suit.
"Take it back!" he demanded.
"Make me." she smiled.
He charged at her, legs lifting off to tackle her once more, but she dodged him quickly and he fell to the ground. He rolled onto his back to see her walking up to him.
She bent down slightly with her hand extended to aid him to his feet, "Since I've won, will you stop calling me a silly girl?" she asked of him.
He took her hand, but used his own weight to pick himself up, "We will see." he stated simply, brushing the grass off of his clothing.
She giggled, nodding in agreement as she looked out into the woods before looking back to him, "Race you!" she exclaimed, taking off suddenly. He quickly put his legs to work.
A couple hours later...
Achilles looked up from his book upon hearing the front door opening followed by laughter. He got to his feet and walked over to greet them, "How did your training go?" he asked.
"It was well." "Fine." the two answered simultaneously while trying to control their giggling.
"You couldn't make it more obvious that you two were playing rather than training." Achilles caught on to them easily, tripping Octavia with the handle of his cane and then bonking Ratonhnhaké:ton on the head with it.
The young girl stood up while her partner rubbed his head. They didn't dare move while Achilles was still in front of them.
"Go wash up. Supper will be ready soon." the old man ordered them, watching as they immediately stumbled up the stairs to do as told.
"I'm too old to be a father of two young idiots..." he said under head breath as he wobbled back to his study.
"This is your fault." Ratonhnhaké:ton glowered, feeling his head for any swelling as she walked into his room after washing up.
"How is this my fault?" Octavia asked, an eyebrow quirked in curiosity at him blaming her, "You took part as well." she reminded him.
He gritted his teeth, "Because you taunted me and that is how it all started." he stated in defense.
"You didn't have to act upon you tackling me." she smirked, receiving a glare in return before leaving the room. She returned to his room with a damp washcloth and approached him, holding the back of his head with one hand and began patting his head with the cool washcloth.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm easing the bruise, hopefully to prevent swelling. I'm not very good with these sort of things." she admitted.
"You don't have to do that." he said, raising an arm to push her hand away.
She smacked his hand away, "No, but I want to." she stated, replacing her hand on the back of his head more sternly and continued to aid him, "My teasing you caused us to become more playful rather than serious in our training, leading you to get smacked with il Mentore's (the Mentor's) cane." she explained, putting the washcloth down and played with his hair.
"He tripped you too." he reasoned, "W-what are you doing?"
"Mi dispiace (I'm sorry), your hair is just so beautiful. I looked so soft, but now I know that it really is."
He accepted her touching his hair, figuring that it must be a girl thing, "Can I feel your hair?" he asked her.
"Sì, of course." she obliged.
He ran is fingers through her long, light brown hair, "It feels like silk." he commented.
"I try to take care of it. My mamma always said to me, 'L'orgoglio di una signora è i suoi capelli." she said, the smile on her face quickly fading.
He stayed silent as he watched her fall into deep thought, "What does it mean?" he asked, trying to ease her mind of the hurt.
"It means that a lady's pride is in her hair." she explained.
"We should attend supper. Would you like a train after we eat?" he suggested.
"I would love to." she agreed, eyes beaming in anticipation.
The two ate the delicious supper of roasted chicken with vegetables in the company of Achilles and the two maids, Annabelle and Elizabeth. Afterward, they were called to the study to discuss the activities for the week to come. Their mentor made it clear that they would be tested at the end of every week not just for the lessons in Language, Philosophy, Logic or the Arts; but more importantly their fighting, climbing and learning how to fall and recover as well. Furthermore, they would be questioned on their knowledge of the Assassins and Templars: their structures, origins and purpose behind both factions. It was a lot to handle, but they were determined to right the wrong that the Templars had caused throughout the centuries. They knew that this wasn't a simple training to become initiated. They understood very well that this was the path they'd chosen, the battle they set themselves to face, for the rest of their lives.
Afterward, the two sparred in the basement, practicing their aiming, hitting and kicking; using the dummies as well as each other as the former couldn't counter their attacks or fight back. They continued until they were called by Achilles to wash up and head to bed, saying their 'good nights' and going their separate ways until sunrise.
Eventually, Ratonhnhaké:ton and Octavia were called in by Achilles separately, both questioned on why they wanted to choose this path.
Ratonhnhaké:ton had told Achilles of Charles Lee burning down his village, Kanien'kehá:ka, when he was only five years old. He told his mentor about watching his mother saying 'goodbye' for the last time as he was carried off while she was left to burn alive.
He would never forgive his father for letting him destroy his own son's life'; for giving the order to have his mother killed by the hand of his own protégé and for what? What was the reason for his mother losing her life? What had she ever done to anybody to make her deserving of such a horrible death? These were the questions Ratonhnhaké:ton refused to let go of.
Octavia confided in Achilles that she'd witnessed her father, Emilio D'Egidio, beat her mother, Isabella, to death with his own bare hands in a drunken rage and thus met Ratonhnhaké:ton in the woods due to her running to save her own life.
She confessed to feeling like a horrible daughter for leaving her mother in the home in that state, but she truly didn't know what else she could have done. What use would have been if she stayed only to suffer the same as her mother? She expressed the guilt that she felt for confessing the secret to a close friend of hers, who in turn told her parents and the news spread until it hit her father's ears that fateful night. She admitted that the only reason she joined Ratonhnhaké:ton on his journey was because she had nothing left to lose. She knew now that she had so much more to gain.
Together, the two wanted to stop the Templars from tearing the country apart through their oppressing ways. To prevent any stranger from suffering by the hands of the Templars after both becoming very aware of the wrath those people could put on their own loved ones. They wouldn't stand for such injustice on a nation that was still in its infancy only to grow under such appalling circumstances if they didn't act upon terminating the Templar Order.
Achilles, however, made it clear that any personal grudges they had within them would most certainly have to be put aside for the sake of keeping composure if they were to eradicate the Templars in an effective manner. They would have to be trained to control their emotions and learn that some must die for the sake of everything becoming better for the nation and its people.
There was an unspoken understanding that Ratonhnhaké:ton and Octavia would always have personal issues and emotions tied to this long journey, for reasons not having to be addressed. Still, they would do their best to build themselves up into the fighters that the country needed most. They would become the defenders of those who cannot defend themselves. They would become Assassins.
≺) [ṃȧƌạṁeḤuɲʈǝrr]