The following morning dawned bright, but with a cool breeze wafting through the keep, and Quill was bemused to find the people she passed pulling cloaks tightly around their shoulders.
"Morning," she chirped as she entered Altaïr's study.
Altaïr and Malik looked up, almost surprised at her chipper mood. They too had donned slightly warmer clothing, and Quill raised an eyebrow at the sight of a familiar white cloak draped across the Master Assassin's shoulders. She touched the fur trim momentarily with a smile, before dropping her bag on the table.
"Why is that bag so heavy - what do you carry around in there?" Malik asked, again amazed at the loud thump the bag made.
"Almost everything I own that could come in handy, and that's not furniture or cluttering one of my houses, that is."
"Either you don't have that much, or I don't understand how it fits in there..."
"It's, well, magic. I guess," she replied with a shrug. "It can hold a lot more than the size might lead you to believe. Such as this..."
She drew a blade from the bag - one that should not have fit in there without poking a whole straight trough. Next she took out the hilt of the blade. They assumed that was everything, but she continued to rummage in the depths of the pockets, clearly still looking for something.
"Why haven't you put it back together again?" Altaïr asked, studying the immaculate edge of the old blade, time had done nothing to blunt or diminish it.
"I didn't have all the pieces, remember," Quill replied, huffing in annoyance as she peered into the bag, tilting it this way and that to find the last part. "Oh where is it...!"
They sensed her search for it was becoming slightly more frantic as she continued. "Besides," she added, "I wasn't sure if the blade had more or the same amount of power if it were in parts, as opposed to in pieces. I didn't want to saddle myself with more trouble than I needed."
"It certainly looks like the sword here in this book - but I see now what you are looking for," Altaïr said, after leafing through a few scrolls and pages. He tapped the page in front of him - a beautifully drawn sword under his finger. The blade was long and slender, and both it and the hilt shone with a goldish aura. But the picture of the sword showed a decorative bauble, with wing-like protrusions, missing from the hilt.
With a final sigh, Quill reluctantly tipped the bag onto the floor next to the table.
Malik, and even Altaïr, stared in wonder as several weapons - daggers, a slick black bow, a pick axe; a few items of clothing, amulets and rings, a myriad of tiny bottles filled with bright and dangerously colored liquid, chunks of iron, gold and silver ore tumbled from the bag in a seemingly ceaseless flow, with plenty of herbs and odd looking animals parts sprinkled in between. Quill paid them no mind, pushing things around as they fell, clearly searching for the final item. When the items eventually stopped, she half expectantly looked inside the bag again, giving it one last testing shake. But nothign more came.
"Damnation," she hissed as she started patting the other pockets of her armor.
"Where is it?" Altaïr asked, not liking the answer he knew he was going to get.
"It... it was in my bag..." she replied finally, sitting on her knees amidst the contents of her bag, her shoulders noticeably drooped.
"Perhaps it fell out in you room?" Malik suggested, unable to escape the feeling of tenseness closing around his chest.
"Maybe, but I doubt it. Speaking of which - I would really appreciate a proper room. That one has too much gauzy fabrics for my taste. Let's see is we can find it," she said as she shoved the items unceremoniously back into her bag.
"Shouldn't you organize those? How will you find anything in there again?"
"No, it sort of categorizes itself."
"Wow, I really do need to get one of those," Malik said as they followed her out towards her rooms.
After an extensive search of the rooms and surrounding areas yielding nothing, Quill grew more agitated, while Altaïr and Malik grew more silent.
"Well, I don't like to say this, but - someone must have taken it," she said eventually, almost to herself.
"I am inclined to agree with you," Altaïr said.
Malik only muttered a curse.
"They might not know what they have though." Quill looked pensive.
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, if they were looking for the sword they would not have taken only one part. And they were all together, so it would be hard to miss the others when one part was found."
"Yes, but perhaps they don't know how to 'organize' your bag, and with the amount of things in there..."
"That was the smallest part. Finding it would have been harder than finding the other two. Unless..." Quill paused. "It was on a golden chain, the man I took it from wore it around his neck - like an amulet!"
"So...?" Malik asked, not wanting to get too optimistic too soon.
"So they might think they have taken a trinket, a mere prize. They might not even know what they have."
"That would be lucky for us. But how do we find our pick pocket?"
"Oh of course!" she replied, closing her eyes. "I think I know who has it. Mika, Emir's little brother."
"That would make sense - he's in awe of you," Altaïr said with a half smile. "It would be the ultimate satisfaction to get something off of you."
"I must really be out of sorts if I didn't realize he had taken it. It was probably just the first thing his fingers touched and that's how he ended up with it."
"Has anyone seen him or his sister around this morning? I don't like to think that he might inadvertently loose it..." Malik muttered, seeming a bit relieved.
The three renewed their search, but this time for Emir or Rima and their little brother. Once they had been through the entire keep, sleeping quarters and kitchens included, and the training grounds, they were as frustrated as when they set out.
"I don't get it," Quill muttered, taking a seat on a near by bench. "Where could they have gotten to?" They had ended up in the town at the base of the fortress.
"It really does not make sense. I also haven't seen Emir, and surely he would know where they are," Altaïr agreed.
"You were looking for me?" a voice said from around a corner.
"Ah Emir - yes, well actually we've been looking for your little brother," Malik said, glad for the serendipitous meeting.
"Mika? I've been searching for my brother and sister all morning..." he said, confusion and worry on his face as he gave Quill a quick glance.
"You mean you don't know where they are either?" she asked, rising slowly to her feet.
"No. I just figured Rima was still angry with me and that they might be with you." He shook his head. "Why are you looking for them?"
"Mika is a very promising pick pocket - and as such he has gotten his hands on something I had in my possession that could prove to be very dangerous. This is not good Altaïr," she said, turning to the Master Assassin.
"What did he take?" Emir asked, giving each of them a worried look.
"The item itself isn't dangerous - on its own. It is very likely that no-one even knows it is here, let alone that he has it. But..." Quill hesitated a moment, but pushed on. "But I fear if the wrong people were to find out it could pose a threat to not only your brother but everyone else here."
"It's something the Templars are after then." It was a statement, not a question. Altaïr nodded once.
For the lack of better direction, they headed back to the keep, all in brooding silence.
"Oh, Emir," a man called after them as they already passed him.
"You were looking for your siblings earlier, yes?"
The man nearly staggered back as all four suddenly focused solely on him. "Yes, have you seen them?" Emir asked, with a slight edge to his voice.
"Yes," he replied, if a bit uncertainly. "They were walking out with one of the assassins, perhaps an hour ago."
"Out? Out where?" Malik asked.
"Which assassin?" Altaïr added.
"I... I do not know. He was dressed in the robes, but I have never seen him before. I just thought he was new. They left through the town gates."
"There hasn't been anyone new."
"The gates? Where would they be going? Did you hear them say anything perhaps?" Emir asked.
"No, they just passed me in the street."
Thanking him, they hurried towards the gate - if they had taken a horse, the stable master might be able to give them more information. Walking through the heavy structure Quill looked around curiously. She had not been this far before, and although the situation demanded her focus, she was still curious to see new areas. They had barely turned towards the stables when Quill sudden froze, frowning.
"What is it?" Altaïr asked quietly.
"I..." she took a few steps to one side, the a few forward before bending down. Her fingers touched a small wet patch in the dirt - something small and entirely missable. As she stood, rubbing her thumb and forefinger together, the red blood spread across her finger tips. She slowly raised her eyes to meet his, her expression unreadable. Malik and Emir leaned closer too.
Emir swore under his breath, running his hands through his hair in despair.
"There aren't any horses gone - they must have left on foot. Let us walk a ways and see if we can spot their tracks."
A short distance from the gates they did find something - but not what they had hoped.
Propped up with her back against a rock, sat Rima, her face pale and hands shaking. From the looks of things she had crawled a distance, but had become too exhausted to continue. Further down the path the body of a man lay face down in the dusty path.
"Rima!" Emir exclaimed as he rushed to her - her clothing was slick and dark with blood.
"Emir," she smiled faintly. "You found me. I was trying to get back to the village. But I couldn't make it..." she sounded disappointed in herself for this failure.
"No you will be alright, don't worry I am here now," he tried to sooth both their spirits, but one look at the ragged wound in her side told him everything he needed to know. She held the dagger Quill had given her limply in her left hand, while the right pushed down on her torn side.
Altaïr and Malik neared the siblings, not wanting to intrude but desperate to find out where Mika, and the missing piece, was. Quill stood as if stuck in place, her face paled and her fists clenched at her sides.
"That man walked us out of the town with a knife to my back, said if we made a sound he would kill us. When we got just around this corner," she nodded to the bend in the road ahead, "his accomplice joined him. I knew that was the only chance I was going to get. So I used the dagger and I killed him." There was a cold satisfaction in her voice, but it was replaced by hollow fear when she continued.
"The other man grabbed Mika, and stabbed me before running off. I don't even know why they wanted him!" she said with a shallow sob.
Quill covered her face with her hand, not able to bare the sight of the mortally wounded girl.
Emir sat motionless and speechless next to her, holding her bloodied hand as a silent tear ran down his cheek.
"Thank you," Rima said to Quill.
"Thank me? Whatever for? I..." she dropped her hand to her side, unable to finish the sentence.
"Before I met you I would have been afraid. I wasn't afraid," she said, and she wiped the tear from her brother's face, leaving a red smear. "I was angry. And I could do something about it." She took one last shuddering breath and with a faint smile closed her eyes.
Quill raised her left hand, and tried to focus every ounce of her being into her will. She remained standing so for a long while, as if reaching out to the girl, before eventually dropping her hand again with a sigh. She squeezed her eyes shut against the tears that burned there, and turned her back to the heart-breaking scene.
Malik placed a concerned hand on Emir's shoulder as he stared blindly at his sister. Altaïr however watched Quill carefully, and when she turned away with the shudder of suppressed grief, he realized what he had been missing.
"You never got your magic back," he said quietly as he came to stand beside her. "That's why you didn't heal yourself after the fight with Aldiun. That's what you were trying to do now - see if you could heal her."
"I was hoping..." she said after a letting out a long breath. "I was hoping that since I lost it when you came to Skyrim, I might get it back now that I am here."
After a long silence she added below her breath "I couldn't save her..."