AN: This starts out in Altair's dream/past of when he was nine. I kind of thought of the question: What if it wasn't that Altair can't swim, but is terrified of water because of his past? Please comment on what you think!

Part 6

Altair looked around. He was out in the village exploring when Abbas came rushing up to him.

"Come, come, Altair!" He waved his friend over. "Our fathers are back!" Smiling, the two novices went up to the castle and into the court yard. There was a group of Assassins in the training area, but ignored them. They were looking at the balcony where two Assassins were: Ahmad Sofian and Umar Ibn-La'Ahad. Beside them was Al-Mualim, the Grandmaster. The two boys rushed up the stairs to them.

"Ah, and here are the proud sons," the old man spoke, smiling, but, it held no real emotion. "I'll like to speak to your fathers alone, if you don't mind." Altair looked at his father. Umar's back was facing him, but he was looking over his shoulder at Altair. He gave his son a warm half smile. Smiling back, he took off, Abbas following. When they left the courtyard, that's when all the trouble started. A group of four Apprentice Assassins approached them. Abbas accidentally bumped into one.

"You got a problem, novice?" The Apprentice snarled. The two boys looked confused.

"We didn't mean any harm," Abbas answered. The group wouldn't take it as answer.

"Apologize, and we'll let you go free," another spat. "We're not in the mood listen to shit coming out of a Novice's mouth."

"Maybe if you weren't taking up most of the road, this wouldn't of happened," Altair snarled. The four stepped forward and over took the boys. One held Altair and another one punched him the gut.

"Altair!" The other screamed, but he got his beating too. The group dragged them edge, where hundreds feet below was the lake.

"Happy swimming, Novice!" The one restraining Altair kicked over the edge. It took awhile, but, when he hit the water, he began to sink. He tried to reach the surface, but, everytime he did, waves would come over his head and push him down. He swam to the cliff and tried to climb up, only to slip back down because of wave hitting his back.

"Father!" He began to cry. "Abbas!" Water began to fill his mouth, his heart pounding in panic. Once again, a wave came and took Altair under. This time, he was too weak to fight against it. Darkness was filling his vision. Out of no where, an arm wrapped around his chest, but he only thought it was death claiming him. Suddenly, he felt the wind on his face, but, he was too dizzy to realize what was happening.

"It's alright, Altair, I got you," his father spoke in a quiet tone. "Hoist us up! He's barely alive!"

Tamar woke up, not noticing she was soaked with sweat. Groaning, she got up, and nearly fell back down because of dizziness and the pains in her body. From behind her, someone caught her and gently placed her back down. But, even though she was aching, her nerves where on edge.

"Relax, Tamar," Akmal's voice came. Back on the mat, she looked up a him. His face was mixed with confusion, anger, sadness, but mostly of betrayal. Tamar looked around. They were in an abandoned church, the poor district's Sanctuary. She looked to left and saw the man, still asleep, but shaking, sweating, and moaning as if in pain. His sleeve was rolled up to reveal bandages on his arm.

"I-is he alright?" She asked, her voice cracked of dryness. "It looks like he's having a fit."

"He will be," William's voice echoed. Looking in the other direction, she found him on a crate. "It's nighttime, but you two have been out for at least a day now. You were in the same condition as he is now, but you had less damage than he did. I brought you hear after I bandaged you."

"What happened to us?" Tamar asked, then she coughed. Akmal rushed away and got her water then sat against the wall. She drank it greedily.

"You were poisoned," William answered. "Those arrows they shot at you were covered with a new poison. They got four new different kinds of poison. Luckily, you got hit with the second to worst one." She gave him a confusing look.

"How it that lucky?" He smiled at her.

"Because, we had an antidote for that one. The worst one doesn't have an antidote, and will kill slowly, but painfully." He watched Tamar began to yawn. She was still aching and quite tired. William sighed. "You should sleep. Your body is quite weak." Nodding, she drifted off into sleep once more.

Days had passed after Altair was kicked into the lake. But, the incident always flashed whenever he closed his eyes or looked over the edge at the lake. Everyone said it was a miracle he had survived. It only became worse when Al-Mualim made all the Novices take a swimming test. He and his father had hoped this fear would pass, but everytime he entered water, Altair would remember sinking and death's embrace, causing him to panic.

When the test came, Umar went up to Al-Mualim with his son.

"I'm sorry, Master," he spoke. "But, I don't believe Altair is able to swim. The past still haunts him and I have tried everything you told me to do. Is there something else we could do?" The Grandmaster sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"The boys have still yet to complete their punishment, but yet this fear will not yield." He sighed again. "Let's just hope Altair becomes a great Assassin even with this small weak spot." Somewhere in the distance, children laughed.

The sound of laughter caused Altair to wake up. The first thing he saw caused him to jump. Standing over him was a five year old boy and a nine year old girl. When they saw him awake, they ran and shrieked with laughter. Sitting up, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was in an abandoned church with three holes in the roof that let light and snow through, but that's not what caught his eye. There were children, of all different ages, boys and girls, playing, sing, climbing, or just talking. There had to be at least twenty to thirty, maybe even forty, children.

Looking around, he noticed there was a messy mat beside him. Altair tried to get up, but that's when he found his arms and legs bound. That's when he noticed his weapons were missing. On his injured arm was a bandage. Checking his knee, he felt a bandaged there too. Instantly, that night flashed into his mind. He, Altair, the Grandmaster, had failed to save Munir, a fellow Assassin. He brought his bound hands to his face. Then, he remembered the girl. Was she alive? Where was she?

Then, he saw three people enter through one of the holes. Altair immediately recognized the girl and sighed in relief. He also recognized the boy, but, the Englishman he didn't.

"Tamar! Akmal!" The children rushed to them and that's when he realized that those three were the oldest ones.

When she came back from getting medical supplies, Tamar didn't expect the man to be awake. She, Akmal, and William dropped down only to be greeted by the kids. She looked at the man and noticed he was awake. She felt pity for him because Akmal won't let the group leave unless that man was restrained. After she was done greeting with the children, she walked over to him. Sitting down, she looked into his golden eyes again.

"Hey, how do you feel?" Tamar asked, a little nervous. "You've been out cold for two days." The man looked at her with shock.

"Two days?" He asked. "Because of arrows?"

"Those arrows were poisoned," she answered. "I hit, too, but not as badly as you did." There was a small pause.

"You saved my life, why?" The man gave her a questioning look.

"You saved mine, and my brothers," Tamar jerked her head toward the children. Akmal was looking after Hussein while William was playing with the kids. She looked back at the man.

"Why am I bound?" He asked, showing his hands. She blushed instantly. Taking out the blade she used the night at the prison, she cut his bindings. She then handed it back to the man.

"Sorry, I borrowed it," she said shyly. "Akmal, the one by the boy laying on the mat, he didn't trust the idea of leaving a stranger by himself with the kids." The man looked around, as if looking for something.

"What 'kids', I don't see any goats." He asked, confused. Tamar burst out laughing.

"I guess you don't know street language." She giggled. "'Kids' mean 'children'!" Now he looked more confused.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Tamar, and this is Sanctuary." She gestured to all around her. "And you are?"

"Altair." He spoke. "Altair Ibn La'Ahad." He put out his hand for her to shake. Tamar looked at it, confused. Altair took his hand back. "Just curious, Tamar, do you have a last name?" She shook her head and shrugged.

"I don't remember it."

AN (This you don't have to read): When I wrote the part where Altair first woke up, I was listening to "There Can Be Miracles" from The Prince Of Egypt, thought the beat went with the children being shown. I don't know, but, you can listen to the song if you want.

Again, I'm sorry this is going slow, but please stay with me!