Author's Note: This chapter was written by nekozawa11.
Before following as well, Arille had quickly run down and alley and took a thief's clothes, changed into them and sprinted away to make up for lost time. As she ran, she took her throwing knife to her hair, deciding it best to cut it off. She didn't like the idea too much but she had to make sure she was unrecognizable to the kidnappers.
This chase was beginning to piss her off. No sooner would she spot them, she would lose them in the crowd; and taking to the roofs wasn't an option. It would call too much attention to her and then she might not only lose her son, but also Fran's. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if that ever happened. Her eyes widened hopefully as she spotted them again, then grew cold as she watched them pull Fenice roughly along behind them. She wanted to stop them from hurting her son as anger built up in the pit of her stomach. It was obvious that the young boy was now regretting ever offering to help. His eyes were wide and scared. With how he was trying to pull his arm out of the man's grasp, Arille couldn't tell if he was pretending to try and escape or was legitimately trying to. No matter, it tore her up inside to see this and Lord only knew what Aquila would do if he found out about this. She shook her head to rid her mind of such thoughts, knowing that she'd be adding one more person for her to worry about to the list.
The crowds began to thin and she slowed up, not wanting to draw any unneeded attention to herself. They were gone. Arille looked around the street but didn't see Fenice or the two who carried him off. She panicked and sprinted down the street hoping to catch up to them, but no matter how far she ran, they never showed up in front of her. She fell to her knees, breathing heavily. If she couldn't find him again, she didn't know what she would do. Hell, how would she face Aquila again? She couldn't bare tell him one of their sons had been taken because she used him as bait.
The thief's words popped in her head again. He had said that they were bringin the taken children to an old abandoned warehouse by the docks. She could try there. It was worth a shot anyways. Arille stood and took off towards the docks, and hopefully where her son and Damion where.
It would have made things less complicated if, during her chase, she hadn't wound up in the middle of the city and if scaling the walls and running across the roofs wouldn't bring unneeded attention to herself. But luck wasn't on her side, forcing her to race against the clock and the possible departure the Templars would make with the children. If the departure did happen, she'd be cutting it close when she arrived and there were still the guards to think about. She'd have to do something about them.
Arille stopped as she came to the entrance of the street where the warehouses started. The guard's bodies littered the streets, thought out of the way enough so that the untrained eye wouldn't even notice they were there, but not enough that some one who knew what to look for would miss them. Her face paled. Someone had gotten her first. Lord only knew how the children were fairing; that is, if they were still alive. She shook the thought from her mind. Those were thoughts she didn't need interfering with her judgment and took off once more down the street. As she ran, she couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't the only assassin there. Every now and then she could've sworn she saw a flash of white run across a near by roof, but she couldn't be sure. For all she knew, it could just be another Templar.
Arille preferred the latter of the two thoughts, using it to fuel her desire to find the children. But with each warehouse turning up empty, she was beginning to lose hope. However, there was one left that she had yet to check. She took a deep breath and opened the door quietly. Peeking her head in, her breath caught.
So there are other assassini here... she thought, silently approaching the group.
Arille tapped Domencio on the shoulder as she whispered, "What are you doing here, Domi?"