I just came back from a wicked cool field trip (we spent most of the time on a boat) and I held a flounder-like, an almost fully-grown flounder (so the eyes were actually on one side and stopped migrating)-and I smothered myself in sunscreen and I guess that I missed a spot and I still got burnt :O I thought my shirt would cover most of my shoulders -_-
Oh, and it's also a little ironic how the bus was playing 'Finding Nemo' and I was also listening to a song called 'Nemo' by Nightwish XD I just thought that was a little weird O.o
Onward with the story! Feel its power? Tingly, is it not?
Altair contemplated for a while. Should he bring Nemo along to help with the assassination, should she be left out waiting so that she could get him away quicker, or should he leave her behind at the Assassins Bureau? Malik is a good man; he would watch over Nemo. He was a reasonable thinker and even though Malik hated him with a deep and burning fiery passion, Altair did not.
"Hey, powder pants," said Nemo as she walked in with a piece of bread. "Never told me that Malik makes bread. It's actually exceptionally good. Bakeries back at Clyde Park need this kind of stuff."
Altair remembered her yelling 'Clyde Park' at the men when she was still in captivation. "Is that name of your village?"
"We call them towns, but yes, Clyde Park, Montana. Population three-hundred and fifty-three or…something like that. It probably has a similar population to Masyaf." She took another bite of the bread.
"Nemo, I will show you where it is that we must go." Altair said and stood up. "I want you to wait exactly where I tell you to. If you see anyone come out of the warehouse other than me, chase him down. We only have one target and he's an archer, so he should be rather easy to distinguish among the others granted he's carrying a bow."
"I'm pretty sure that I can do that. Just don't get killed or I'll be pissed."
"I don't plan on getting killed."
A few moments-and several rolls of bread-later, they were out of the bureau and were making their way towards the warehouse.
Altair hoisted himself up onto the edge of a building and ordered the lycanthrope to stay where she was. Of course she was going to stay she was, and he knew that, but just to make sure he used command words with her. 'Stay,' 'chase,' 'don't', all of them words that she naturally wanted to follow from someone she likes.
So, perched up on a building, Nemo waited quietly and made sure she was out of sight. When Altair left, she realized that it was very quiet but she didn't feel like humming to herself. She was nervous and anxious, but if Talal came out of that warehouse alive, she'll chase him down like how she chases a deer. In fact, he'll become a deer and she's purposely forget that he's a human; it helps her chase things better, reminded her of her dreams running through Finland chasing elk or other feral ungulates.
Altair dropped down to the warehouse and hesitated in front of an open door. Pft…door? There wasn't even one.
He stepped inside and heard a huge iron door behind him fall, locking and trapping him inside. Inside of the warehouse was a cage with a man who was nothing but skin and bone, sitting on the ground, fidgeting and clinging onto himself. He was obviously injured psychologically. Pools of red blood were scattered throughout the floor, some of the red liquid smeared on the damp stone walls. It was dark inside with a few torches lighting the room. The floor was covered in old, creaky wood that desperately needed replacement and looked as if they could break at any moment under the assassin's weight.
From the corner of his eye, he saw a shadowy figure up top that quickly but silently slipped away and out of sight. He knew that he was being watched by many eyes.
"What now, slaver?" Altair said and walked forward, eyeing the man in the cage. He couldn't help but notice that there was an arm that extended itself through the iron bars of a hatch that was attached to the ground. Inside was a skinny man who said, "Help me! Save me!" Off on another wall was a bloodied man shackled to it. The man didn't even look at Altair. One other thing that was highly noticeable was the smell; the stench was terrible and beyond putrid, consisting of blood, rats, decay, and other things that were far too pungent to even identify.
"Do not call me that!" A man said rather quickly. "I only wish to help them…as I myself was helped."
"You do no kindness imprisoning them like this."
"Imprisoning them? I keep them safe, preparing them for the journey that lies ahead."
"What journey? It is a life of servitude."
The man started laughing quietly. "You know nothing." He said slowly. "It was folly to even bring you here, to think that you might see and understand."
"I understand well enough. Show yourself!" Altair was outraged at the way how he had imprisoned these men, keeping them in cages, bloodying them, shackling them, not even cleaning up the blood on the ground and the walls. It went against not only the Assassins Creed, but the Ten Commandments, all the 'Laws,' all of morality, and everything with ethics. It was beyond profoundly appalling. It was even atrociously disgusting.
An iron gate to an adjacent room opened and Altair stepped inside, listening to the distant and weak shouts and shrieks of men trapped behind bars that they so did not belong with.
"Ahh, so you want to see the man who called you here?" Talal asked, closing the gate behind him. It must have been a complicated mechanism from above, for Altair did not see any other human being except for himself. Even that was exceptionally difficult considering the low levels of light. Why not open up a window or two?
"You did not call me here!" Altair raised his voice and stopped walking once he was in the center of the room. He used his eyes to look around as he said, "I came on my own."
Talal laughed again. This time, it was an eerie and bone-chilling Hhha-ah-ah…. He spoke again but it was echoing so much that Altair could only hear 'did you?' and something that sounded like 'clear the path.' Then he heard '…all this I did for you.'
A wooden hatch from over head was moved and a patch of light cascaded down onto the ground. "Step into the light, then." Talal said. "I will grant you one final hearing."
Altair walked into that small patch of light and waited.
Several men jumped down from the balconies overhead, all having swords in their hands.
"Now I stand before you." Talal said and appeared overhead, giving Altair a full view of himself. He was probably in his late thirties with grayish-black hair that was sleeked back. He was wearing white pants and a multi-colored shirt, and of course, he had a bow in one hand and arrow on his back. "What is it you desire?"
"Come down here! Let us settle this with honor!" He drew his sword, glaring up at Talal.
"Why must it always come to violence? It seems I cannot help you, for you do not wish to help yourself, and I cannot allow my work to be threatened. You leave me no choice." He paused for a moment and started to turn around. "You must die."
Damn. Altair thought. He was severely outnumbered; six to one. He could make it through this despite the odds, he thought.
The first man who went for him made his moves completely open and showed exactly where he was going to hit. Altair easily and swiftly dodged it and broke the man's leg with his sword. Once he fell to the ground, he stabbed him in the stomach before wheeling around and slicing another man's throat. The man brought his hands up to his neck as he fell forward, landing on the ground with a hard thud.
Altair now had two men coming at him at once. Their blows were quick and he was forced to block them with his sword, but in doing so, he was also forced to back up. Before he knew it he felt himself pressed against a wall. As his enemy's swords came closer and closer, he eyed a wooden box and caught his boot on it. He kicked it forward up into the air at them. One of their swords got caught in the wood and Altair was able to sprint past him and slice his throat. The other man dodged Altair's attack and eventually countered it, punching Altair so hard in the stomach that he was sent back a little ways and fell to the ground. Just as he snapped back into reality he saw a flash and swiftly rolled to the left to avoid being stabbed.
His enemy never gave him enough time to stand up, but he always had enough time to roll out of the way.
Upon nearing a piece of wood that was lying on the floor, Altair grabbed it and flung it up as a shield just in the nick of time before the sword made contact with his chest. With the temporary shield he was allowed to stand up, but there was a bigger problem; his sword had been kicked out of range.
The final man joined in with the currently attacking one. Altair jumped to avoid being swiped by the feet, then ducked to avoid being decapitated. Upon landing, he ran up a wall and jumped onto a stack of unstable boxes. He leapt off in the opposite direction of the men, sending the heavy and splintered boxes avalanching down on his two enemies. With them buried, he grabbed his sword and ran over to one who was clawing his way out. He stabbed the man in the stomach and quickly found the other.
The last man lost his head.
Altair sheathed his sword and ran up a ladder, two steps at a time. Talal saw that the assassin was still alive and started running away, signaling for more men to come. Altair grabbed one of his throwing knives and flicked his wrist, sending it sailing through the air. It eventually hit a man in the stomach and he fell like a rock off of the balcony. He threw another knife but missed, giving his enemies more time to get to him. Once they came too close, he drew out his silver short blade and started dodging attacks.
He countered one attack and broke the man's arm, then came around behind and stabbed him in the back. The next blow that he countered he brought the man to his knees and thrust the knife down into his skull, listening to a loud 'crack' as the cranium broke. He avoiding a spray of blood as he went behind the next man and stabbed him in the kidneys, then a third time to sever the vertebrae. He turned around and saw that there was no one else left. Talal obviously noticed as well and looked horrified.
In his horror he fled.
Nemo was watching the warehouse intently. She knew how it was going to be played out. She has played the game several times and she knew that Talal was going to come out of there eventually.
She immediately noticed when Talal came sprinting out of the building. He jumped off of where he was and landed on an adjacent rooftop.
Nemo kicked off from where she was and started chasing Talal. The man quickly saw her and started running faster.
Nemo, though still human, transformed her legs into dog legs and went on all fours as she bounded across from a pinnacle on a rooftop to a flattened area on a neighbor's house. She brought her arms out in front of herself again and grasped a wooden beam, using it to propel herself forward even quicker. She may have been faster than any other human, but Talal took difficult routes and she was often thrown off-course.
"Stay away from me!" Talal yelled as she neared him.
Nemo's eyes widened when she saw that he threw something at her. She couldn't even tell what it was…a piece of wood, a box or something of the like…but whatever it was it hit her and broke into a million pieces and dazed her for a moment. The force of the blow knocked her front half backwards and did half of a mini-back flip (she was in midair at the moment). She landed on the ground and felt the wind rush out of her. The werewolf quickly got to her feet and did a total Alex Mercer; she ran up a wall, flipped over the building, broke a flagpole (it was in the way), landed on the street that Talal was now running on, and then started sprinting forward with her back nearly horizontal to the ground to help accelerate herself.
She never lost sight of him and he apparently never did either, because this time he leapt through a merchant's stand and threw a jar straight at her head. When it hit her, she quickly felt that it was filled with water. She felt her jaw get knocked out of place and she automatically said "Good morning!" with the sudden rush of pain and surprise blast of cold liquid.
She snapped her jaw back into place and picked up her pace. Talal had gone into the crowds, giving her a difficult time to keep on his tail. When she lost sight of him, she jumped up to a rooftop and quickly spotted him. Talal grabbed an arrow and was carrying his bow, plowing his way through the crowds. When he saw Nemo coming for him, he shot the arrow. She dodged it by swerving off to the sides, but the next one he shot hit her straight in the shoulder. She was automatically infuriated and decided to leap down from the building, ripping out the arrow. As she fell, her momentum broke several wooden beams that were running across the building.
Talal continued created obstacles and continued throwing objects at her as an attempt to slow her down. She suddenly thought of another line from a video game that absolutely fitted her situation. She roared, "TALAL! YOU SUICIDAL MORON!"
"Get this demon away from me!" Talal said, but just as she hit the ground, she grabbed onto the back of his shirt and jumped as high as she could go. Carrying him with her one arm, she sprinted across rooftops until she found a secluded and dark place. Once she was there, she slammed Talal on the ground and kneeled on top of him, pinning him to the floor, threatening him with her knife-claws, trapping him and giving him no chance of escape.
Nemo suddenly calmed herself when she saw the fear in his eyes. She was in charge and he knew it. She got off of him and saw that she had broken his leg and his arm and he was bleeding profusely. Upon seeing his mortality and the fact that he was going to die, she started speaking softly to him. There was no reason to be harsh now.
"You can't escape this one, I'm afraid. Tell me what you know."
"My part is played." He said with a pained expression on his face. "The Brotherhood is not so weak that my death will stop its work."
"Brotherhood? What do you mean?"
"Al Mualim is not the only one with desires upon the Holy Land. And that's all you'll have from me."
"Then I suppose that's it, huh? Well, since you believe in God…tell him that you're sorry. You know he's merciful. He'll listen…keep you safe, you know."
"He's long abandoned us. Long abandoned the men and women I took into my arms."
"What do you mean?" Nemo swiveled an ear around and cocked her head.
"Beggars, whores, addicts…do they strike you as proper slaves? Unfit for even the most diminutive tasks? No. I took them not to sell, but to save…and yet you and your assassin would kill us all…for no other reason than it was asked for you?"
"No, that's…that's not accurate." Nemo said. "The war benefits you. Look at all of the lives that are lost, all of the lives and hearts broken, futures destroyed, all of the unnecessary suffering."
"Yes, you would think that, ignorant as you are…war of your mind. They say it's what your kind do best. Do you see the irony in all of this? No, not yet it seems, but you will."
Nemo suddenly felt a heavy weight in her chest that wasn't there before. She looked down at Talal and bent over to him, for he was still alive and breathing. "I'm sorry." She said without looking at him, half-closing her eyes. "You have the wrong idea."
"Do you deny the fact that you might as well?"
"No, actually. The thing is…is that…there is no right or wrong idea. There's just idea. It doesn't make me much different than you are…but slavery? If you truly were indeed saving them…then…"
"What? I'd choose a different method?"
"Yes, but things are complicated." She closed her eyes and put on a look that could have easily been considered shame. "I'm sorry, Talal." She brought a hand underneath his head and lifted him slightly, placing her forehead on his hot neck. She could feel his pulse…so close, right beneath her claws…all of that sweet blood…. "Forgive me."
She severed his jugular and felt an onward spray of blood. The man went limp and she set him down gently. Some strange feeling swept over her. She couldn't tell if she liked it or if she was afraid of it. She couldn't even describe what it was. The first time she took a life she went into distress and literally had a mental breakdown. Then she felt sad and angry and regretful and sick and relieved all at the same time, but then she was better with it. Now she felt somewhat humbled with a heaviness in her chest and her gut. She felt her feet and legs go cold as if the blood was sucked right out of them and she didn't even realize that her lungs refused to breathe; it was as if they didn't want to.
When she stood up, she realized all the blood that she got on herself. Talal's blood had pooled on the ground in a bright-red puddle. Upon seeing that, her mind suddenly switched to Altair. SHE JUST KILLED HIS TARGET. Of course she was thinking 'oh shit' at the moment. She did have much of Talal's blood already on her…maybe they could just smear the feather on the blood that she already has?
She bent down to the pool of blood and put her hands in it. It was warm. She soaked a small corner of her dark-colored shirt in it and smeared her wrists with it. And to think that she used to be squeamish towards human blood this close…now she's not.
And she had to restrain herself from drinking the goddamn stuff.
Altair suddenly appeared in a very low-profile matter. As he approached-noticeably looking down at his ex-target-all what Nemo said was, "I accidentally killed him! I thought that I was going to have to find you and then I got blood all over myself and my shirt and I guess that I accidentally broke a few of his bones and he was dy-"
"Nemo, I believe you." He said and took out the feather. "This is my fault. I should have ordered you to not kill him, but thank you, though."
Nemo was silent as he bent over to the pool of blood and soaked the feather in it. "I'm sorry." She said. "He had some very interesting things to say."
"Speak them, then."
"He said that God had abandoned them, left them a long time ago and claimed that everyone is a slave. Then he spoke about a brotherhood, said that Al Mualim isn't 'the only one with eyes on the Holy Land.' Do you have any clue what that means?" She currently just needed to sound as if she knew nothing about it.
"We will speak with Malik, first." He stood back up.
"Altair…he truly did believe that he was saving them."
"As would any madman. Come." He signaled for her to follow, but not without handing her the feather first.
Nemo looked at him quizzically. "Aren't you suppose to carry this?"
"You killed the target. You present it to Malik."
"Won't that looked seriously bad for you?"
"I do not care what he thinks. It does not concern me. I will not, however, lie to him."
Nemo looked at it for a moment before gripping it tightly.
She had the sudden urge to cry.
Altair stepped in and Nemo was scared not just because she had to break the news that she just assassinated someone, but also because Malik said in a very cheerful mood, "Altair! Good to see you return to us! Tell me. How fair the mission?"
"The deed is done. Talal is dead."
"Ooh, I know, I know…in fact THE ENTIRE CITY KNOWS! Have you forgotten the meaning of-"
"Things went different, Malik."
Malik gave him a strange look, noticing how he didn't present the feather. Altair just glared at Nemo, who sheepishly opened her fist and held out the feather. "There was a change of plans." She held out the feather but didn't look at him. Malik quieted down.
"You assassinated him?"
"He ran out of the warehouse and I accidentally killed him, but he spoke to me, though."
Malik glared with fiery hatred towards Altair who only looked at him emotionlessly. "Come here, Nemo." He said and signaled for her to come closer. She did so as he came out from behind the counter. He took the feather from her and examined it. "Nemo, I need to have a word with Altair. Do you mind going upstairs?"
"Um…you really don't need to-"
"Please, Nemo? It is alright."
She looked over at Altair who immediately said, "You know you can trust him."
She sighed and walked up the stairs.
All what she heard was Malik yelling and Altair saying things in his trademarked monotone voice.
"-we can argue the details all you'd like Malik, but that doesn't matter. The fact remains is that the target is dead and we have information that Nemo still needs to tell us-"
"She will not be coming down here to save you, that's for sure!"
"Not to save me, just to give you the information."
"Then why don't you, already?"
"She's only told me parts because we were running out of time."
Malik let out a whole list of colorful swears but they weren't anything compared to Nemo's swearing. Hers is actually entertaining.
"I do take blame for it, Malik, for I did not give clear orders, but you needn't argue about it. She has already taken more lives than I ever have and if yo-"
"It will NOT be tolerated, Altair! It is not measured in how many lives are taken! I want you out of my sight NOW! I will speak to Nemo and Nemo only. Get out of here."
"Ma-"
"I said to get out!"
Altair sighed and turned around, went up the wall, and waited on the rooftop.
"Holy shit." Nemo said and came down the stairs. "You sound like my mom."
"I am sorry Nemo, I truly am. You didn't need to hear all of that garbage."
"Just as long as you realize that he doesn't hate you."
Malik looked up at her.
"I mean, if he hated you, then don't you think that it would have been obvious by now? Seriously, what went down between you two? Alty and I are best friends yet you scream at him like a moose giving birth to an elephant."
"It is nothing. I do not wish to undermine your relationship with him." He went back behind the counter. "What is it that Talal had to say to you?"
She told him all what she could remember and asked him about the 'brotherhood' thing.
"That is strange…" he said in contemplation and put a hand up to his chin. "…a brotherhood like the assassins? What could he have meant by Al Mualim 'desired upon the Holy Land?'"
"Hey, if I knew, then I wouldn't be asking." She lied. Of course she knew what happens!
"I will think about that. In the meantime, you and Altair should get a bit of rest. Tell me, though; how is it that you assassinated Talal?"
"I was going to chase after him if he ran out of the warehouse. Remember that I'm a wolf, I'm quite fond of chases."
"Did-"
"Yes, Altair did ask me to do so, but I would have done so anyway on my own whim, no doubt. Excuse me, I'm gonna go get him. I hope he didn't go into the streets." She turned around, but before leaving, she said, "Thanks, Malik."
"Thanks? What for?"
"For caring about someone you know practically nothing about." She gave him a small smile. "You're a good man, you know. Stay that way." She disappeared behind the wall.
Up on the latticework of the rooftop she found Altair sitting down with his knees up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. He was staring off into space over the city, most likely thinking very hard. Nemo felt her entire body painlessly shift into a small wolf.
Now a canine, she slowly padded over to him and nudged him with her muzzle. When he gave no response, she licked him on the side of the face. She sat down next to him and looked at what she could see of Jerusalem from that rooftop.
"I killed his brother." Altair said.
Nemo was caught off-guard and looked over at him, swiveling her ears around to the front.
"There was a mission that I sent to do with him and his brother, Kadar. I failed. It was the biggest failure of my life. I was a fool. I was arrogant…stupid…a damn bastard, that's what I was. Don't tell me I'm not." He glanced up at her for a moment. "I was blunt and overconfident, and because of it, Kadar is dead. I thought that I killed Malik as well, but when I spoke with Al Mualim, he arrived. He had succeeded the mission but he lost two things that he can never replace. Mainly his brother, but also his arm. All because of me."
Nemo said nothing back and turned her head around.
"One reason why I know that's all true is because you're not saying anything back."
Nemo's tail dropped. She felt something strange. Sadness. Not from her, but from Altair. Something wasn't right. Was that suppose to happen?
She laid down on the ground and closed her eyes as Altair scratched the thick fur on her neck. Yeah…I know that you killed Kadar. Well…you lead him to his death inadvertently. And that Malik lost his arm because of you. And that you failed. And that that's the very reason why you're doing all of this crud in the first place.
Neither of them talked; they just waited and watched the city. Nothing was happening; people were returning home because ending day.
"You're regretful." She said.
Altair didn't say anything.
For any of you who don't know, Alex Mercer is the protagonist in a game called 'Prototype' and he can run up walls and sprint wickedly fast and does all of these really cool jump-twist things and I was like, "That reminds me of Alex Mercer." and the whole 'YOU SUICIDAL MORON' thing was also from Prototype, it just seemed fitting to put into the story because…well…that's what Nemo was thinking! XD
Yeah, I forgot to mention that chapter 13 was actually a day late because I uploaded it, I just didn't upload it to the story because I had to go somewhere XD But anyway, here is the final conclusion of chapter fourteen! I personally think that the chase/fighting/assassination scene went really good.
Ugh, I have another sunburn on my head -_-
I'm off to get a piece of cake and write the fifteenth chapter! Was the fight scene good or was it too choppy?