Candles snapped and wood splintered as the structure collapsed on the unsuspecting men below. Altaïr was already a safe distance back, though surprised by what had just happened. His eyes darted upward and there was the very girl dangling from the rope that held the very chandelier that now lied on the ground in utter disarray. She had bought them time, just enough to make an escape before the soldiers could recuperate themselves.
He sheathed his sword and ran over to the ladder she had used earlier. The very instant he was on the upper platform he jumped across the beams, using them to draw as close as he could to Ann. The only landing she was remotely near to was another wooden joist just on the other side.
A glance and he could see her hands were beginning to lose their grip and he carried himself as fast as he could muster to the very end of the joist, using one hand to grab onto one of the wood posts it was nailed to that lined the interior walls. The other hand he extended out to her as far as he could reach without throwing off his balance. "Swing!" he commanded.
"The ropes too short!" she called back. "I can't swing that far!"
"Swing to throw yourself!" he snapped back, growing impatient as some of the men below were pulling themselves back up to run toward the ladder. Ann didn't say anything in protest though hesitant as she was, she used her legs in effort to swing the rope toward him. Little at first, she managed to get the line to sway a good few feet just as some of the guards made it to the platform and started to leap out onto beams.
"Jump now!" Altaïr ordered. Swinging back, she moved with more effort to make this final sway count. Just as the rope had swung her with enough velocity back toward him, she let go. She didn't think she would make it; it was too close of a call to make! But it was pure luck that her hand managed to reach out to his and with a powerful pull he forced her onto the beam. His arm now taking hold of her waist to make sure she didn't fall off the other side, he held her tightly against him, barely throwing a glance back toward the soldiers.
"W-What now…!?" she managed to find her own voice, but Altaïr made no remark as he pulled his arm back from the wall post and hoisted her up completely in his grasp and jumped off the beam to the next one until he could get them both to the next platform that held the exit just for them. His feet were fast as he ran out and jumped clear out of the building and landed roughly on the cobble stone street below.
A grunt was his only remark from his efforts as soon as they cleared the establishment and he dropped her back onto her feet as soon he pulled himself back up. Though free from his hold, his hand clenched onto her arm to pull her forward into a sprint. The sun had already disappeared from the sky, but there were still the remaining fragments of light that filtered through the city. He pulled her with him, weaving through the few startled people that still remained outside.
Another sharp turn and an abrupt halt, Altaïr used his hold on her to throw her into a large cart piled high with hay before he too jumped inside, their forms disappearing completely within the straw.
"Alt—!" His hand clapped over her mouth, silencing her from making another sound. It was at that point, amid the guards yelling and running frantically through the streets and the struggle to regain her breath, that she even realized the bells ringing loudly across the city. Even at that, she pushed his hand off her face, bringing his attention straight back to her looking on through narrowed eyes. She knew better than to make any sudden movement, much less any sound that could potentially give them away, but the gaze between them both screamed in high volumes.
.:*~*:.
Chimes sounded softly as gentle wooden clicks as two people descended into the large room of the Assassin's Bureau. The last one in, Altaïr, dropped onto the fountain with a heavy thump under his feet before he stepped down onto the floor. Ann had already begun to back away from him as soon as he was on the same level as her, sensing this was not going to be a very sweet conversation.
"Just what were you thinking running out there and getting yourself into trouble like that?" His voice snapped before he even turned on his heel to face her directly.
"I wasn't looking for trouble! I was jus—"
"You certainly a skill for that. If you truly worked with the Order of Assassin's before then you would know better than to draw attention to yourself like that."
"It was an accident!" she tried reasoning, her own frustration beginning to build. "I was trying to figure a few things out for myself, next thing I know I'm being thrown into a group of guards by some lunatic, so sue me!" His brow rose in confusion from that last remark, but he soon looked past it.
"Just what was so important for you to risk going out there and nearly getting yourself killed for?" She bit her lower lip, struggling to find an answer. "Well…!?"
"What does it matter, it's over with now." She turned completely away from him, her arms crossing in front of her. "We made it through so just drop it already." She could hear his fingerless leather gloves tightening before he snatched her by the shoulder and forced her to face him once more.
"You do not pull something like that again," he spoke coolly. "I might not be able to save you next time. You're enough trouble as it is."
"Well then, that would be a load off your shoulders then now wouldn't it? Then you'd be free of someone like me 'getting in your way' again." She saw his jaw clench as he fought back the anger that was threatening to lash out.
"What is all this noise?" Jabal called out from the other room. Altaïr took in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves and took a step back from her. His eyes did not sway from hers even as Jabal appeared in the doorway.
"Garnier de Naplouse is dead," was Altaïr's answer as he pulled a blood-soaked feather from the pouch around his waist.
"An awful lot of arguing for a successful mission, is it not?" Altaïr merely shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to dwell on the previous topic even as Ann began to give him a quizzical look.
"There is something else," Altaïr added.
"Speak it then, or would you have me read your mind?" Jabal had turned back into his room, stepping behind the counter to pull out a large book. "Is this what all this disruptive behavior is for?"
"What do you think Garnier wanted from these people?" Altaïr followed the Rafiq into the other room with Ann trailing close behind, eyeing Altaïr for a mere moment. "That he would keep them and experiment on them as he did?"
"Yours is not to ask but act, Atlaïr. It doesn't matter what he did or why, only that he's dead."
"But Garnier seemed to believe he was helping these people."
Ann faltered in her step as her mind trailed back to the man who came so close to her with the scalpel. An old man that, to her, seemed to like he might be a person who genuinely wanted to help… but the second she was pulled into that despicable hospital of his, all thoughts of that went away. That was the Garnier de Naplouse he was to kill?
"Is that what you saw?" Jabal had taken a pen, dipping the dry nib in a jar of ink before he began to scribe into the large book the happenings of today's event.
"No… What I saw was not a place of healing." Ann shifted her attention back to Altaïr, almost surprised to see a calmer side of him as he spoke to the Rafiq. Though he had a point, trying to understand why Garnier did what he did… but even in her own modern sense of things, she would see Garnier as someone that was crazy himself, but on a much more intellectual level. The one type of a delusional person that would usually carry some sort of power to their name alone and always one that you had to look out for beyond the usual lunatic.
"Then why are we having this conversation?"
"I… I don't know," he faltered in his own words. "Forget I spoke of it."
"I already have," Jabal answered. "Was this worth such a heated words?"
"Forgive the disturbance, it will not happen again," Altaïr shifted, starting to move back to the resting room, gaining only a sigh from the Rafiq as he finished writing the report.
"Do not forget, Altaïr," he added, stopping the Assassin before he could make it to the doorway. "You are to bring Ann to Al Mualim upon your arrival."
Ann glanced back toward Altaïr who kept his back toward them, though his head barely tilted back to acknowledge he was spoken to. She imagined he was none too pleased once more though she could not see his face beneath the hood, but he gave a short nod. "We will leave within the hour."
With that, Altaïr disappeared from sight. Though Ann remained still for a moment, looking toward the doorway he had gone through, she began to wonder why the Assassin dropped the matter all together on their argument earlier even when Jabal had brought it back up.
"Were you able to find what you were looking?" Jabal had caught her attention and she turned her gaze back to him as the older man pulled the large book back into its place behind the counter.
"Not exactly…," she answered, a small smile coming over her face. Only that I'll be going to Masyaf before long… But I still have no idea where that even is so I still don't know where or when I am. I never really took a geology class or looked a map long enough to even begin to wonder where a city by that name would reside in.
"But it's not a big issue," she added, a smile pulling on her lips as she moved toward one of the tables in the back where her violin still rested. "I'm sure I'll find it before long."
"I shall hope that you do," the Rafiq spoke. "Safety and peace upon you, Ann."
She turned back to Jabal once she had double-checked the security of her violin and pulled the bag back over her head and across her shoulder and torso. A warm smile formed on her lips as she responded. "Safety and peace upon you too, Rafiq."
.:*~*:.
The cool air had now settled over the city and Ann was more than grateful that the Rafiq, Jabal, had given her some clothing that would at least help keep her warm against the cold rigid night. To her own relief, walking the streets with Altaïr brought a whole new sense of security. Though there was still the occasional guard amid the rooftops, they were able to walk freely within the dark.
Once they managed to sneak outside the border of the city, she remained close to Altaïr's side as they came over to a stall where a tall white horse stood, idly grazing the hay strewn across the ground. Not a word passed as Altaïr hoisted himself up onto the horse. Ann, though fascinated by the animal, became hesitant even when he extended his hand to help her up.
"Is there a problem?" It was the first thing he said since they left the Bureau.
"No," she answered quickly, finally reaching up to take his hand and climb up onto the horse.
"Then why do you hesitate?"
"I…," she slowly managed find her spot on the saddle behind him. "I've never ridden a horse before." She could almost hear the amusement crossing his face.
"Then how did you get here in the first place?"
"I'll let you know when I figure that one out…"
Silence fell over them for a few moments as he led the horse away from the stall, moving toward the main road away from Acre. He kept the pace steady, but not too slow as they moved out into the country. She began to wonder to herself exactly what she was going to even begin to say to this Al Mualim once they enter Masyaf… Will he be tolerable and understanding? Or will be believe her to be a threat and kill her on the spot? There were still too many thoughts, too many questions circling in her head for her to even begin to worry over.
"Do you at least know where you came from?" Altaïr's voice broke through her train of thought, making her look up to the back of his hood.
"It's not a place you'd be familiar with," she answered.
"That's not an answer," he grumbled. "Give me a name."
She heaved a sigh. "Atlanta, that's where I came from."
"At…lanta?"
"I told you that it wasn't a place you'd be familiar with." She could almost see the frown forming on his face even with his back to her, but the thought brought a small grin to her face. She figured he was probably mulling the very thought over in his mind, pondering just how far this Atlanta was and where it was exactly. At least with this, she could distract herself from dwelling too much over her own predicament.
"How far away is Masyaf from here?" she asked, her eyes turning skyward to see the brilliant stars that littered the night above them.
"A day's travel," he answered blankly.
"What's it like there?"
"Tranquil."
"Is it anything like the city we were just in?"
"No."
"Is it just as populated?"
"No."
"So then it's a smaller city or more spread out?"
"You ask too many questions," Altaïr grumbled, catching a faint chuckle escape the girl behind him.
"Is it such a bad thing that I like do know where I'm going?"
"Must your answers be in the form of a question?"
"Only if I need to know something, wouldn't you agree?"
"Now you're just doing that on purpose."
"That's not a problem, is it?" She wasn't positive, but she thought she could have heard him chuckle.
"You think it wise to test an Assassin's patience?"
"Well, you haven't killed me yet so I'm still in still in the clear, right?"
"Doesn't mean you'll get an easy trip."
"Huh—Ah!" He flicked the reins and commanded the horse to jump into a gallop, nearly making her fall back off the horse before she grabbed hold of him, her arms wrapping around him and holding on tightly as the cool wind wiped pass them. "H-Hey!"
The clap of the reins and before she even knew it, he had the horse leap over a fallen tree, but it did not slow in its gallop. The sudden jolt forced a squeal from her and her hold on him tightened. It didn't help at all that she couldn't see very well even with the dim moonlight shining on the long dirt road ahead of them.
"You're terrible, I hope you know that!" Even though she could not see his face, she knew very well that he was enjoying this too much.
"That's what you get."
