*I have noticed these chapters have been getting longer... and longer hmm... You don't realize how distracted I get writing these and researching for proper spelling of names *laughs* This chapter took me an extra forever. Before I forget, there are a couple of strong choice of words in this chapter*

Chapter Seven

Altair and I appeared back to Masyaf early the next morning after the assassination of Tamir. Altair rode ahead of me as usual to speak to Al Mualim first even though we had to cooperate, he itched for all of the glory. I pulled the reins of my horse once we reached the stables. Handing off my reins to a training assassin I said thank you before entering Masyaf. Almost everything seemed to be restored but there were still some houses that were in need of repair.

"Psst!" Not a moment after getting through the gates I turned left to right wondering who was calling me. A giggle that could not contain itself, I looked down a little more to see Dalal sitting on a bench.

"Dalal are you alright?" I asked madly scooping down to see my friend. She looked up a little aged in the face last I saw her.

"You have been gone for a couple of months," she took my hands shaking them. I looked down feeling the guilt. Right after the attack, Al Mualim had ordered us to leave later that same evening. With all the people that begged and demanded to be taken care of I didn't have time to say my farewells or even get the gratification of knowing that Dalal was alive. "Look at you, my best friend is an assassin now," she snickered.

"I'm just training to be one," I removed my hood letting my golden brown hair fall forward. The creases in the corner of Dalal's eyes crinkled slightly. I pulled my friend up off the bench only to discover that Dalal was completely missing her pointer finger and her ring finger on her right hand with both thumbs missing as well. I couldn't cover my gasp and Dalal's expression sunk lower. "I- I am s-so sorry," I shook holding my friend. "How are you going to be able to keep up with your jewelery and black-smithing?" Yes, Dalal is a master at both. Dalal bowed her head showing me the gray streaks in her dark hair.

"I won't be able to," she whispered. My mouth left partly opened hoping she was just playing another one of her jokes on me. She looked up, "So you take care of those platinum swords I crafted," her brown eyes drifted towards my swords. "They are the last thing I ever made but I'm glad I didn't make them to just any costumer. They are stronger than steel and will last someone's lifetime if taken with the respect it deserves."

"I will treasure them my friend," I hugged her at last to find something good and warm in the last two months I was gone.

"Here comes Altair," Dalal murmured. "Have you... and him..." she laughed at her notion skills.

I gasped and coughed, "Of course not... he is cold, ignorant and rude," I flung back. Altair rushed past me as I said so, Dalal eyed him raising an eyebrow in disbelief at me.

"Of course my dear Natasha," she patted my hands teasingly.

"Now go or he'll might run off without you!"

"Silence," I laughed, "But by any chance do you know where Kadar-"

"No go," Dalal interrupted, "I hope to see you again." I wished her goodbye and told her I would not know when I would come back for a visit. I jogged up to Altair hearing my armor and weapons clinking all the same.

"Where are we going now? What did Al Mualim have to say to you?"

"We are going to Acre," he stated tightening the straps on his saddle.

"I heard we could have also gone to Jerusalem..." I hinted delicately but that only made Altair even more infuriated for some reason.

"We're heading to Acre to kill Garnier de Naplous. My words are final and you are finished." He stressed mounting his white horse taking off as I rushed to my horse to catch up with him.

I cantered up beside him, "Why can't we go to Jerusalem next?" I wouldn't quit. Altair never glanced up at me but whipped his reins and his horse began to gallop. I blew the hair out of my face riding not far behind Altair as the days before.

We pulled our horses along to Acre stables tying the reins on our horses just hoping that they wouldn't get stolen.

"Ah! Somebody please, help me!" an old man cried desperately. Four guards were pushing the old man around in their little circle.

"We have to help him," I attempted to persuade Altair.

"He is old and feeble, there is no need to help him," he grumbled. I frowned marching my way over to the guards not caring that Altair didn't approve at my choice. I stealthily pulled one of the lingering guards out of the circle to impale him with one of my swords, muffling his last cry. I dispatched his body in a nearby hay stack before anyone noticed. I sneaked up behind the log fence observing my targets through a crevasse in the fence. One guard had his back right up against the fence so I took the advantage striking him with my blade through the crack. His body jerked forward as I forced my blade through his spine at tremendous strength. The other two guards stopped laughing witnessing as I pulled back on my blade and the guard's body being slammed along the fence, collapsing as the blade exited his back.

"I'll find you!" one guard shrieked. I heard them coming around the fence but I ran around in a circle killing the lagging guard from behind. I had to kill this last guard before he alerted the others. The guard circled back around seeing me in my menacing white hood. "You're a woman!" he cried. I saw on his navy blue uniform with the same cross but in white. I took my position forward hacking him under his armpit then with the other sword I stuck the blade through the artery in his neck. Blood literally went squirting out at brilliant heights.

"No, I am an Assassin," I replied at his lamentable body. I focused my attention towards the kneeling man shielding himself in terror. "It's alright I'm not going to hurt you sir," I spoke like the mature iridescent voice of my mother. The man peered between fingers looking at me as I crouched down to face him after putting away my swords.

"O-oh th-thank you my child. I will find a way to repay such kindness," I helped him up to his feet.

"Well there might be a way you can help me- er I mean us now."

"Anything child of God sent by the angels," he said with innocence.

I cleared my throat, "Yes," I huffed uncomfortably, "is there anyway you can get my friend and I through the gates into Acre?"

The man nodded excitedly, "Indeed, I shall get the scholars to help you," he ran at startling speeds for his age convincing the scholars to use them as cover. I turned around to summon Altair but he was right behind me, as inright behind me. I shrieked loosing my balance falling back on the ground but he caught me by my wrist like muscle memory. He simply plucked me forward back onto my feet without saying anything. He premeditated past me to blend with the scholars. I dropped my head putting my hands into a praying position slipping into the center with the scholars until we past the gates. Altair and I halted letting the scholars walk past us slightly annoyed. I observed somberly as Acre looked like a wreck. The streets were littered with broken boxes, smoke from fires, with plenty of drunk men stomping around, and number of filthy looking women begging for coin. I could have been one of those, I swallowed.

"So where is the Assassin Bureau?"

I saw his lips move in reply, "I believe it is this way," he rasped as we both climbed modestly destroyed buildings. The smoke made it hard to see things and were things began and ended so we watched our steps. Eventually we made it to the Assassin's Bureau and the chimes were singing as we dropped down into safety.

"Altair is that you?" A man called. Altair walked in relaxed as I trailed behind him.

"Hello Jabal," Altair said in cold blood.

"Ah, how fairs your search for the man Garnier de Naplous?"

"I still-"

"We," I chopped in.

Altair rolled his eyes, "We still have much to do."

"Then do not waste my time! Go find out more about your target," Jabal raised. Altair scowled exiting abruptly into the other room. Following behind him I saw a new weapon strapped to his back. I pick-pocketed the small blade from his back. He looked over his shoulder finding his short blade gone.

"This is beautiful craftsmen ship," I said casually like I had done no wrong doings.

"You will give that back to me," Altair snarled.

"Who crafted your weapons?" I looked up but Altair swiped the blade from my hands. "Watch it! You could have nicked me!"

"But I didn't," Altair said cockily restoring the short blade back in his case for it.

"I'm going to get a view of Acre," I pushed past him deciding I was going to take the: "I-could-care-less" route. Or at least that's what Kadar would call it.

I stood at the edge of the ledge looking down hesitantly. Trust me the view was... interesting, I'm not going to say lovely because I was overlooking the poor district. Nothing was lovely about it. But if I missed the hay stack I would be dead, if I didn't jump Altair would laugh at me. He was waiting at the bottom by the haystack wondering if I was going to mimic what he just did. I bit my lower lip clawing at the ledge.What if I don't flip all the way and land on my head? What if I don't flip at all and I land on my stomach... ouch! Thinking about this hurts. And if I don't do this in style... I get laughed at. Fuck... I stood up doubting myself farther but I took one step back; Altair smiled thinking I had coward, I ran right off the edge spreading my arms out then tucking my core into a tight ball. I rotated in mid air on my back falling all the way down until I was greeted by hay. I poked my head out puffing out hay from my mouth. Altair looked discouraged that I had made it. The scar on his lip twitched as if wanting something amusing to watch. I jumped out tailing behind him. There were times where I tried to walk beside or in front but he would keep pressing forward always in front of me. He turned around a corner and I followed but he jabbed me in the gut as I proceeded around the corner. "Uhhf! Why did you do that?"

"Shh!" Altair peered his attention down a broken trading's market. I looked over his shoulder seeing what he was seeing. Two men alone were talking secretively together.

"What have you got there?" One man reached for the man's pouch but the other pushed him away.

"Rubbish," the man persisted, "the man had no coin to speak of just some damned student I suppose. All I found where these papers with these chicken scratches on them," the man said ignorantly. Evidently he could not read or write.

"Those aren't scratches but words and letters," the other man reasoned. Altair slid forward to get a better hearing range.

"Well then what's a man putting words and letters through this tube?" he held out a precious case the documents were rolled up in.

"Must be important," the other man cut in, "Give it here!" he said hungrily.

"No!" the man starting fitting the pieces of how special the documents were now.

"Let me have a look!" the man begged.

"Yeah right like you did last time," he spat.

"Well ain't you clever," the man snorted, "Have fun with it then," the man walked away discouraged.

"I've got this one," I got up and walked over to the man who had the documents but something resisted me to go forward. Altair was pulling on my robes yanking me back.

"No, you wait here," he breathed heavily. I wasn't amused now. Did I mention last time he wouldn't let me do any other investigations in Damascus except for the eavesdropping ones?

"I want to do this one," I protested.

"You'll just make things worse," he gave me a final push back sneaked up to the man. His arm stretched as he gently lifted the flap to the pouch. Grabbing hold of the documents he let the man do the rest. The unsuspecting man walked away with Altair holding the documents in his hands. Quickly Altair turned just like any pickpocket expert would do. He studied the papers then stashed them away in his pouch without allowing me to read them. All day it ended in something like this. Whether it was informer missions and interrogations he would always handle them. The only time he allowed me to assist was when the informer had two archers to kill in a period of time. For eavesdropping I would sit down while Altair would run around for more investigations. I had learned that some guards were absent from their duty on the rooftops. This equals easy access to Garnier. And that Garnier cowers within his fortress.

I dropped down into the Assassin Bureau with a loud thud! Altair got up from his pillows and we walked in to confront Jabal.

"Altair—Natasha?" he looked up from his book, "How fairs your search for Garnier?" he asked again.

"He lives and roams a hospital northwest from here. But it seems this good doctor does everything but heal, so the rumors say. He enjoys to experiment on innocent people but not from Acre."

"So that explains how the entire city hasn't gone entirely mad," Jabal pulled out a dusty book and opened its cover. He dipped a quill into ink and began to write this information down.

"If he captures people from different cities that means less suspicion is drawn here," I added.

"Yes, yes," Jabal scribbled.

"There are also guards on the rooftops of the hospital that have abandoned their post. This could help us with easy access."

"Yes," Jabal wrote, "this seems like good enough information. I give you leave to go Altair and Natasha," he only placed one eagle feather on his desk why he buried himself in his books. I was going to take the feather but Altair grabbed it before I could.

"Right..." I muttered awkwardly scratching my throat pretending that didn't happen. We walked into the room to "discuss" plans of Garnier's assassination.

"Let's assassinate him now while we can," Altair proposed.

"Jabal told us it was wise to rest before we go kill our target."

"He meant for you rest in the Assassin's Bureau not me," he shot back.

"Fine," I fumed, "Let's go assassinate Garnier right now," I jumped out of the Assassin's Bureau heading northwest of here with my skin prickling and my lips quivering in anger.

"Garnier de Naplous is definitely in there," I stood up from looking through the glass window of the hospital. Altair pushed past me to double check because he didn't believe me.

"I'll kill him because he's distracted by his work," he declared. I clenched my fist ready to punch him behind the head hard.

"You know Al Mualim sent both of us to complete this long Assassination list?" I reminded him annoyed crossing my arms looking down at him.

"Do not speak to me about your hunger," he was never going to let that go.

"But I'm not hungry," I puffed.

"I don't have time for your woman problems," gnarled bluntly.

"It's not just women who have a problem with you! It's everybody who has some issue with you! If it wasn't for you neither of us would be stuck in this crisis because Masyaf wouldn't have been attacked, Malik and Kadar wouldn't hate you right now which explains why neither of them want to talk to me!" I screamed. Altair looked over his shoulder silently then stood up and faced me.

"Your work is sloppy, that's why you needed to learn from me," he took a threatening step forward.

"Do not test me anymore!" His mistake: he took another step closer to me. I shoved him back instinctively perhaps too hard that he crashed through the window. I slapped a hand over the existing one on my mouth stupefied at my strength. Oh fucking shit, I panicked. Goodbye to being a stealthy assassination.

*See you don't test Natasha when she's pissed :D I hope this story is now getting interesting for you as I add more humor-ish content. Thank You for reading My Beautiful Souls ~MissKayoko*