Disclaimer: I don't own Assassin's Creed, the only thing I take credit for is my OCs.

Author's Note: Well I had time on my hands to write a new chapter since I turned in most my projects for class a few days ago. So I decided to get one finished early especially since you guys have been so kind.

Taming a Huntress

Chapter X

Gratitude

Two weeks later Savra found herself wandering around in brother's room after she woke. He was getting ready to go down and train in the courtyard.

"I thought I'd surprise you this morning with some gifts," Haydar spoke as he glanced at her.

"What are you talking about? What gifts?" Savra asked in confusion.

He tossed the cloth into the bucket and sat down on the bed, sighing heavily. "Don't tell me you don't know what day it is."

Her mind searched but came up with nothing. "I don't"

"It's your birthday, Savra."

Realization hit her, she hadn't thought about that for weeks. It wasn't important anymore. "Oh..." she replied quietly.

Haydar stood and walked over to his dresser, picking up a large cloth sack that was sitting next to it, and walked it back over to his bed. "Look through it," he told her as he went in search of a tunic in his dresser.

Savra opened the cloth bag and pulled out the items. It was clothes, but as she started laying them out on the bed she noticed that they were tailored to exactly how she would want them. Skin-tight gloves she'd probably use for her bow and a leather sleeve were among the items. "Where'd you get all these?" she asked in slight awe.

"I found a girl in the city who is a wonderful tailor. I asked her to make them for you," Haydar answered when he walked back over. "Do you like them?"

She looked over at him. "I do." Savra beamed and when she saw the pleased smile he gave.

She watched him reach under the bed and pull out another large item wrapped in cloth. He handed it to her. It was long and as soon as she grabbed it she knew what it was. Rushing to remove the ties with more enthusiasm than the previous wrapped cloth, she uncovered the gift.

"Haydar," Savra breathed as she held up the bow. It wasn't one she'd ever seen before. The weapon was a deep brown wood, edged with metal, and because of that it was heavier than she was used to. There were intricate designs barley etched in the steel, and the grip was grooved in a way she'd not seen before. When she gripped it, her slender hand and fingers fit perfectly."This is beautiful," she murmured, tilting the bow to inspect it further. "It looks more for display. I'm almost afraid to use it."

"Well, you better use it. It cost a bit. I was in the village and passed by the weapons seller. He was trying to sell a bow to me. Said something about a girl asking him to craft it for her brother but she never showed up to buy it once it was finished. It made sense that it was you who had asked him and weren't able to retrieve it since you've been confined to the castle."

"He made it like this? It's customized. I only asked for a simple bow."

"I brought it to the blacksmith in the fortress and asked him to do that," Haydar said as he watched her eye the weapon.

Savra shook her head as she handled the bow. "Thank you, it's... very nice, Haydar."

"You're welcome." He grinned and then added seriously, "I know it's been difficult for you here. I wanted to give you something that would make you happy, if only for a while."

"I'm not going to be able to use it. I can't leave the fortress, remember?"

"That's a temporary thing. Give it some time. And we could set up a target out in the front grounds so you can try it out," Haydar answered. He reached under the bed again and pulled out a decorated quiver of arrows, handing it to her. "There are a few blunt ones in there."

She inspected the arrows. They had black and green fletching, and there was a lot. She knew they would last a while. Pulling out the blunt-headed one. "Well if they're blunt then why not let me try it out on you?" Savra waggled her brows.

Haydar chuckled as he pointed to his scar on his shoulder that was still raised and pink. "I've been hit by enough arrows. Now take your gifts, I need to get ready to go out and train. Come out later and perhaps the target will be set up."

Later in the day, Savra walked out with her new bow and gloves. Someone informed her that a target had been crafted. Once outside, she was greeted by Rauf.

"It's going to be close to the sparring ring. I hope you have good aim otherwise some of the men might be having a visit to the healer." He smiled.

"I don't think I'm that bad," Savra answered. They walked down past the circle and Rauf indicated where she should stand. A target dummy was across the grounds a few feet in front of the fortress wall. The sparing circle was to her right and most the men were there watching whatever it was that was going on within it. Rauf stood off to the side and nodded for her to proceed.

Savra pulled out an arrow from the quiver and nocked it against the bowstring. The bow itself was heavier than she was used to, as the metal was weighing it down. But she kept her arm still and drew the arrow back, her right hand a sharp line with her ear until the string gave a final straining protest.

Keeping her sight on the target, she released it as an exhale left between her lips. The sound of the arrow cutting made her smile at the familiarity. Rauf walked over to the target and pointed to his own body, showing her where the arrow had landed on the dummy. It was in the shoulder.

She nodded and pulled out another arrow. Nocking it back again and moving her aim towards the center. She drew in a breath, zoning her sight in and exhaled as she released the arrow. She waited to see Rauf indicate where it hit. This time it was over the heart. He gave her an approving smile before he looked over to the sparring ring. She followed his gaze, Haydar was watching her with a grin on his face, she smiled back. Another next to him was watching as well, and it took her a moment to recognize that it was Altair since his hood was down.

"Why did your father let her wield a weapon?" she heard Altair ask Haydar. Savra's eyes narrowed as she kept her eyes focused on the target but her ears focused on them.

"Let... is not the word I'd use," she could hear the smile in Haydar's voice. "She wore him down. He didn't have much of a choice after that. Why?"

"She looks odd with it. But I suppose it is because it was not meant for a woman to use. It was made with a man's grip in mind. It doesn't suit her."

Savra clenched her jaw and tried to ignore the rest of what they were saying.

After she had enough of practicing, she walked over to the sparring circle. Haydar was inside with Rauf who was helping him get his strength back from his injury. Savra squeezed between some of the men to sit on the fence. She watched Haydar fight Rauf with small swords. He was slower than usual due to his injury. Once Rauf had Haydar on the ground, he helped him up, and Haydar looked over at her as he dusted himself off.

"You want to go at it, Savra?" he asked. Her head shot up in surprise. She was unsure of whether she should agree. She never sparred in front of anyone aside from her father and brother.

She cleared her throat. "I don't know, Haydar. I think I'll embarrass you." She smiled as she teased.

The ones around them laughed, throwing their own taunts at Haydar and he shook his head. "I think you are the one in for an embarrassment." He took the sword from Rauf and walked it over to her. She took the handle from him hesitantly and slowly slid off the fence.

Rauf started. "Haydar, I'm not sure she should b—"

"It's fine, she won't be hurt," Haydar cut him off and backed himself into a stance, gesturing for her to do the same. "Ready?"

Savra poised herself, moving her feet a distance from each other and leaning her weight on the balls of her feet. She held the sword down at an angle, her fingers flexed in anticipation on the hilt as she took a stance to defend against the incoming strike she knew he always took. "Are you ready?"

He smirked and gave a nod.

Sure enough, he lunged at her in the way he always did, bringing his sword down heavily. She quickly lifted hers and blocked the strike. Haydar pushed hard against his sword, causing her to stumble back to keep her balance. He was always going to be stronger than her even with an injury, but she knew how he fought. Before she could prepare her stance again, he lunged a second time, low, and she hopped back just in time and dashed to his side, jabbing the hilt of her sword into his ribs before jumping back away. He grimaced but prepared himself.

She waited, Haydar feigned to the left and swung hard from the right, Savra brought up the sword and the blades hit hard with a clang, causing her teeth to clatter, and she had to force her hands to hold the grip on the handle from the impact which she felt all the way up to her shoulders. Once again, he tried to push her back and she leapt to the side. He staggered forward from the force he was pushing, and she slammed the handle in the same spot on his ribs. He groaned in pain and swiped his blade around at her. Narrowly avoiding it, she dashed around him and kicked the back of his knee. He tripped back before he steadied himself. She elbowed his ribs again, springing out of his way quickly.

"Savra," Haydar growled in frustration as he hauled himself up. She could see the fatigue in the way he held the blade, and she herself was out of breath.

"I told you, Haydar," Savra teased, it wasn't often she got to have an advantage over him even if it was because he was injured, she'd take it.

He pulled himself up straighter and she watched his grip tighten on the sword, preparing herself for his lunge. He hopped forward and brought the sword in a low arch causing her to have to jump back, but before she could bring her sword up, he slammed the flat end of his blade into her hip and she lost her balance, falling on her back, knocking the wind out of her. He walked over to her and was about to bring the blade to her chest to indicate that he won but she hooked her foot behind his ankle and kicked his feet from under him. He yelped as he fell and Savra scrambled up with her sword and quickly positioned the tip at his throat.

"I win," Savra declared through labored breathing. Her other hand came up to brush loose tendrils from her forehead.

He sighed and looked to the side. "You got lucky," Haydar breathed.

She held back her smile. "Haydar, don't be a sore loser." She moved back to allow him to get up, trying not to smile at some of the things the others were saying to her brother.

Rauf walked over with an appraising smile. "I can see Nasir's techniques in your moves. He taught you well."

"I had to beg it out of him," she answered with a small smile. "He didn't want to teach me at first.

Rauf chuckled. "Clearly he gave in." He gave her a nod and helped Haydar up. Her brother groaned loudly. His hand came up to grip his shoulder and he dropped the blade carelessly into the dirt.

She followed Haydar to leave the circle. Though when a hand grabbed her arm suddenly, she turned to see whose it was and found herself presented with Altair.

She looked at him questioningly as she pulled her arm free. He grip tightened slightly when she did, but he let her arm slide out of his grasp.

"Fight against me," he said.

Savra raised a brow. "You want me to fight you?" He nodded. "...Why?"

"It's a change from fighting against the others here. We all have a similar style since we teach each other. Yours is different, as it should be since you have a different frame. You focus on speed not strength. It is a change," Altair explained.

"I only beat Haydar because he's still recovering."

"Are you afraid you'll lose?" He smirked.

"I'm certain I'll lose, so it's not that. I'm not sure it would be appropriate to fight you." She stuck her blade in the dirt to rest her weight against it. "Why would you want to? I heard how you disapprove of women wielding weapons made for men."

Altair's expression softened slightly but covered it up as he spoke, "You fought your brother."

"Yes, but Haydar knows what I can do and doesn't question it just because I'm a woman."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "If I told you I didn't mean what I said earlier, will you fight me?"

"You're only saying that because you think that's what I want to hear," Savra answered in annoyance, turning to go follow her brother again. Again Altair gripped her shoulder, turning her to face him while he spoke.

"Isn't it though?"

"You just admitted you did mean what you said." Altair made no move to correct her as he just stared. Savra glared at him as she pulled the sword free from the ground, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to fight him. Maybe she'd get in one hit, a hard one because she really wanted to slap his face after what he said and now she had the perfect opportunity to do it. "I'll fight you on one condition... no two."

He looked curious. "And what are these conditions?"

"One, no bragging about beating me, because I know you will."

His lips tugged into a smirk. "Alright, I'll try and refrain myself. And your second?"

Savra walked up to him and pressed the sword handle into his chest. "Don't ever tell what I can wield," Savra warned darkly. "If a woman were to be attacked and had access to a weapon, should she not use it? Or should she allow herself to be killed, because the weapon is only meant for a man's hand?"

Altair's brows furrowed and his golden eyes searched her silver, she could see the conflict there. "That is what my father taught me. Why should a man be the only one who can defend themselves from harm?"

"I suppose when put that way..." he started slowly, "But-"

"No buts," Savra cut in. "You cannot change my mind."

Altair eyed her, looking as though he wanted to say more, to argue, but then he nodded and took a step back, getting into position.

She sighed and stepped back to get in her stance.

Altair spoke as he fixed his grip on his sword, "I wasn't saying it because I thought it's what you wanted to hear. You just misunderstood my meaning."

Savra lowered her sword, surprised, but before she could say something back, he had charged at her quicker than she expected him to move and she frantically brought her sword to block his upward swipe. Once the blades hit, the force caused her to lose her grip and her sword flew out of her hands. The men scrambled out of the way as it landed just outside the circle. She stared wide-eyed at Altair.

He hopped over the fence to retrieve the blade, then slowly handed it back over to her. "Get ready. I'll not wait for you again."

"You didn't even wait for me in the first place!" Savra argued, exasperated.

"Stop complaining and fight." He rolled his eyes.

Savra huffed, holding her tongue at a retort and gripped her sword harder so not to have it fly out of her hands again.

He charged again, she quickly blocked his strike and jumped back, but he followed. She leapt to the side, which he was already expecting, and hit her side with the flat side of the blade. She cringed at the pain, but said nothing. She continued to wait for his strikes, to dart around him, but his recovery was much faster than Haydar's and she wasn't used to it. She spent most of her time just trying to avoid his everlasting assaults. She didn't have time to react. He was tiring her out, she knew it, and it was working, highly annoying her. A slanted strike came down on her and she used her weight to hit his blade away, taking the opportunity to slam her foot into his thigh.

Altair stumbled slightly, shooting her a narrowed look while he moved to bring his sword up. Savra lunged forward to hit the flat side of the blade in the same spot. Altair grunted and he swung his blade quickly to retaliate but she hit it away. A big smile spread across her face when she dodged another attack and kicked his thigh again, finally getting into a rhythm.

"You're learning," he stated, as he looked over at her face. His jaw had tightened and he looked a little frustrated but not angry.

"It's bound to happen," she said, sending a smile his way. Altair stared at her for a moment, and Savra waited, thinking he was going to say something, but he didn't, just looked at her. She became unnerved at his gaze, her sword lowering in her confusion. "What?"

Altair shook his head, then quick-stepped into her and the blades slammed against each other. He pushed his weight to force her back in attempt to trap her against the fence. She was already trying to leap out of the trap. He leaned more of his weight forward and the small of her back hit the fence railing. Her shaking arms had folded over her chest and her gloved hands were gripping the sword handle tightly just under her chin. He saw her feeble attempts to use her weight to push him back, and he leaned forward some more, a smirk planted on his face as he looked down at her.

"Fighting against the same person over and over again only makes you as good as them," Altair spoke pushing his sword harder into hers. "Fighting against someone better than you makes you learn and you will learn quicker."

"Are you saying Haydar is amateur?" Savra gave a breathy laugh as she strained against the pressure.

"No, but he has a ways to go."

Her eyes lit with mirth and he found his doing the same. Altair pressed harder, closer and it was then Savra noticed just how close he was to her, practically pressed against her with only their swords smashed between them. His hood, being down allowed her to truly see him. Her eyes traced over the bronzed skin of his sharp features, the strong bone structure, hard jawline, heavy dark brows over unforgiving, golden eyes, down the bridge of a long nose, to the firm line of his lips. Her silver eyes glance at a sliver of marred skin there.

"How'd you get that scar on your lips?" Savra asked softly all of a sudden, breaking the silence.

Altair had been doing his own gazing of her face and blinked in confusion once hearing her voice. "Scar?"

Savra used his distraction to swiftly slipped to the side, ducking when his sword swirled back as he caught his balance after leaning so heavily against her.

Savra laughed when he blinked his confusion away and turned to glare at her at being caught off guard. But she was already near him again, jabbing the sword hilt into his back and was about spring away, but he spun quickly and caught her arm holding the sword. She kicked out at him but he caught her foot as well, tugging it hard, sweeping the floor from under her.

She slammed onto her back, hitting her head hard. She winced and a puff of air left his lips.

Altair walked over her and pressed the tip of the blade into her throat just enough for her to feel the pressure. "I win." He smirked.

Savra coughed as she tried to catch her breath. "What a surprise." She waited for him to remove the blade so she could get up.

"You did well," he spoke. "But you have a lot of room for improvement."

"I know. I said no bragging." She frowned.

"It wasn't an insult. It's just what it is. Everyone can do with improvement, even me."

"Why do you single yourself out? Are you trying to say you're the best around here?"

"I don't think it needs to be said," Altair answered arrogantly. Savra rolled her eyes at his tone.

The blade still poised at her throat prevented her from rising, he was looking at her again, so she stared back. "Do you plan on removing your blade? Or would you like me to remove it for you?"

Altair's eyes narrowed suddenly, suspicion flitted over his face.

Savra swallowed, the tip of the blade pressing into her skin as she did. She hesitated for a moment, and he watched her intently, waiting, waiting for her to say the words that would confirm the suspicion she knew he suddenly had. "Maybe we have met before."

Recognition flashed across his golden eyes as he slowly removed the sword away, dropping it at his side near his boots. She slowly stood, wincing at the soreness in her side. Savra glanced at him and he was staring at her in mild shock.

"What's wrong, Altair?" a novice called from the fence. "You look like a dead man just came up and slapped your face." The group laughed. He didn't say anything.

Savra dared another glance at him, and his eyes were trained on her, the intensity of them making her uncomfortable. So when he didn't say anything, and the men had began choosing a new pair to fight, she walked out of the ring and made her way over to the target dummy where she left her bow and quiver. Picking it up and placing the few arrows back, she turned to head back inside the castle. She noticed someone walking over to her, and paused in her step, waiting cautiously as he strode up to her.

Altair stopped in front of her and stared. After a moment, he broke the silence. "It was you in that alley, wasn't it?"

"Perhaps..." Savra answered as she rubbed her arm.

"Savra."

She was mildly surprised to hear him say her name like that. He didn't usually go out of his way to speak to her, not directly anyway.

"Yes... it was me." Savra sighed, looking at him hesitantly.

His jaw tensed. "You knew all along it was me?"

"I've known since before I arrived to Masyaf."

"And you didn't say anything."

"What was I supposed to say?"

His eyes never left her face, and while before they were suspicious and almost angry, they slowly turned smug. "You could have begun with a thank you." He smirked.

Her brows rose. "Thank you? I don't see why."

He crossed his arms. "I happened to have saved your life."

Savra huffed a small laugh. "No, you didn't. I understand how you need to tell yourself that. But I had it under control."

He shook his head. "I saved you. It is that simple. Maybe you need to tell yourself you could have gotten away. But you would not have. Those men were slavers, and they deal with slaves trying to escape. What were you to them? Something simple. They would have captured you and made you into a slave, and your family would never know what happened to you. It's what they do."

Savra bit her cheek as she took in his words. She knew deep down he was right but she didn't want to say so.

He took a step closer to her and she held her breath as she watched him. "And I didn't have to do what I did. But I did. So Savra, you are welcome."

Her eyes widened slightly but before she had a chance to speak he left towards the gates leading out of the fortress and she watched as he disappeared.

"Thank you, then," Savra spoke quietly before turning to head back into the castle.

Author's Note:

Thanks for Reading!

Sombrette