Hey Malik, it's me again :)
You know, I just re-read all your letters so far (also a note to the author - I have never seen a QaA fic that was so in depth and historically accurate - keep up the good work!) and, your answers left me the impression that your life is a bit... well... Gloomy.
Could you ease the mood and tell us some funny stories from your life? Some "assassination accidents", prank wars, random shenanigans, etc?
Your loyal fan, Arsaja
Safety and peace, Arsaja,
Yes, I suppose that any moments in my life that one may consider humorous are few and far in between. My life may often seem "gloomy" to some, perhaps, but maybe I am used to it. It is, after all, the only life that I have ever known.
However, if you wish to hear a more light-hearted experience from my youth, I am happy to oblige.
The first thing that I can think of off the top of my head is when Altaïr and I were fourteen. We were, of course, still novices and had the robes of gray to prove it. As one may expect, it was around this time that many of our fellow students began to take an interest in the fairer sex; Altaïr was no exception. (I, myself, thought of myself as simply a late bloomer at that point).
There was this one girl from the gardens whom Altaïr had taken a fancy to. She was beautiful enough, I suppose; she had a long, glossy sheet of black hair and cinnamon colored eyes. Once again, I shall omit her name to save her possible embarrassment.
Altaïr and I had first met her when we saw that the gates to the gardens had been left open. We had had some time in between lessons so we had snuck in, hoping to catch a glimpse of the inside. Well, it was mostly Altaïr's idea and he had dragged me along. I usually tried to avoid breaking the rules, unless it came to getting into fights with Altaïr, because novices weren't allowed inside of the gardens.
We snuck inside and only just managed to catch a glimpse of the fountain and the pool towards the center of the gardens when a voice demanded, "Just what are you two doing!?"
The two of us whipped around guiltily to find a girl around our age, although perhaps a little bit older; maybe she was around fifteen or sixteen. The girl was glaring at us with her arms crossed over her chest, wearing the standard clothing of a woman of the gardens.
Altaïr stood next to me, his mouth open and moving silently as if he was trying to figure out how to speak. I glared at him for a moment before I turned to the girl and said smoothly, "It was just a mistake. We will be on our way now."
The girl kept her gaze on me for a moment before she relented and sighed, "Fine, just get out of here!"
I nodded and grabbed Altaïr's arm, dragging him out of the gardens, berating him for his stupid idea. What was he thinking breaking into the gardens and dragging me along with him? He was lucky that I was there to rescue him. Altaïr, however, had remained silent the whole time, which was unusual because he would often argue back with me.
Over the next couple of days, Altaïr would ask me periodic questions about women and what I thought it would be like to be in love and to be in a relationship with a girl. I answered honestly, mostly saying that I did not know (something that was very difficult for me to do at the time) or answering disinterestedly and without conviction.
In addition to this, I began to see the girl from the gardens around Masyaf a lot more. Walking through the halls, passing by the training ring in the courtyard, and even seeing her on the pathway to the citadel as she headed down to the village and I headed back up towards the fortress. Many of the times where I saw her, Altaïr was with me and he would always get tongue-tied.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening; I quickly came to the conclusion that the two of them genuinely liked each other. And, as one of Altaïr's only friends, I figured that I should at least try to set them up together. At the very least it would be amusing to try, or to at the very least watch the two of them and how awkward they were undoubtedly going to be.
The next time I saw the girl I decided to talk to her. Looking back on it now, I realize that the girl was acting very shy. I asked her if she would meet me by the front gate in an hour or so, and she agreed.
After I spoke to her, I confronted Altaïr, told him that I knew about his interest in the girl, and told him to go to the front gate. Altaïr ran down immediately, as we did not have any lessons at that point during the day, and the two of us waited for her until she showed up.
I stood a few yards away, my arms crossed over my chest, observing Altaïr trying to talk to the girl. The girl herself, frankly, still looked nervous and shy, although on top of that, she looked mildly disappointed. Her eyes kept flicking over towards me and slowly I started to realize what was really happening.
The girl was interested in me, not Altaïr!
The idea was too much for me and I burst out laughing. Altaïr's attempts at flirting slowly stuttered to a halt and the both of them stared at me. I tried to get myself under control, but it was all just so hilarious. Altaïr looked angry and the girl looked completely embarrassed, the former of the two clearly not understanding what I had figured out, although neither of them looked like they understood why I was laughing so hard.
I moved closer to the two of them, apologized to the girl and wished Altaïr good luck before heading back up to the fortress, leaving the two of them to their own devices.
Both of their crushes were over within two months, but that still didn't stop me from teasing Altaïr about it for the rest of the year.
Yours,
Malik Al-Sayf
