Chapter Twenty-One
"The Birds Migrate"
Damascus
"Evangeline?" The young woman crawled further into the pillows at the sound of the soft and gentle voice and backed away tiredly from the hand running through her hair. Altair smiled lightly at the stubborn female and resorted to shaking her shoulder lightly. "Eva, love, you have to wake up. We must set off for Masyaf as early as possible." The sun was not in the sky, so only faint shadows and silhouettes could be seen. Evangeline jumped slightly when she saw him, standing there in the dark and looming over her. "Good morning," he whispered and picked her up, holding her next to him.
"Good morning to you as well, Altair." Evangeline smiled. "Wait a moment… Is it even morning yet?" Altair nodded and Evangeline stretched before brushing and retying her hair into a braid. "Is there anything else that we must do? Is there anything that I can help with?" Altair shook his head slowly as he scanned the room. The man slung the saddlebag over his shoulder and Eva claimed the other before he could protest. He gave her a look of mock disapproval, began to walk towards the fountain, and glanced to how he was going to get up there the quickest. Like they had done a few nights previous, Altair locked his fingers and hoisted Evangeline up onto the rooftops.
Altair raised an eyebrow and shook his head as Evangeline dropped down to the other side. The man quickly pulled himself over as well and followed her to the garden, where they could exit and walk the streets like two normal civilians. The Assassin sped up and took the lead through an unusual route to the gates. Evangeline knew that it had to do with the type of crowds that were out this early, so she did not question him. "It is a rather nice day considering last night, is it not?" Evangeline smiled and nodded in agreement. The air was much cooler and the stone slabs that they walked on were still damp. The smell of storm still lingered.
"Yes it is. Is it a good day for travelling?" Evangeline inquired. The woman glanced around as the sun began to rise. Altair glanced around as well before nodding his head. Evangeline got a chill and shook it off. From the corner of her eye, she could see a man with no shirt meandering in one of the alleys. His arms were tucked up into his chest and he was rambling nonsensically. He seemed paranoid about something. Evangeline, at first, paid the psychotic man no mind and walked tiredly behind Altair.
After a few minutes, it occurred to her that the ramblings of a crazed man had not gone away as they should have. She was startled when she turned around to see that he was no more than two feet behind her, convulsing and stalking eerily. "Uh… Altai- OOF!" With one swift and maniacal shove, Evangeline crashed right into the Assassin's back. The man turned just as she hit the ground. "What the hell is wrong with him?" Altair grimaced and walked over to the mentally challenged man very slowly.
"Hey! Do you remember last time? Huh? Do you remember what I did to you last time you messed around near me?" The man stepped back a little. "I know you understand me. Do you like getting in my way? Do you enjoy it when I hurt you?" Altair was now towering over the man who was shaking in fear. Finally, after a few minutes passed and a crowd had formed around the trio, the man ran off into the crowd. People bestowed disapproving looks up at Altair, who took them as compliments. Evangeline quickly stood up and looked at Altair as well. "What are you all looking at? Are you jealous of him?" The people faltered and hesitated before deciding that it was wise to walk away.
"Did I ever tell you exactly how awesome you are, Altair?" Evangeline asked and he just looked at her. "That was really cool." Altair returned his gaze ahead of him with a small smirk. The duo walked through the gates and over to the horses. They each saddled their own, but Altair helped Evangeline a little. The saddlebags were thrown over the back of the saddle and attached to the leather. "Is there anything that you cannot do? You can fly, you can fight, you can…"
"I cannot swim," Altair stated plainly.
"We are in the middle of the desert. That is hardly useful," Eva reasoned.
"What if I fall into the river?" Altair queried.
"Do not speak like that." They focused their attention back onto the situation at hand and the Assassin glanced back at her and her horse multiple times.
"Are you sure that you want to ride alone with a broken wrist?" Evangeline pondered it a moment. "It's not smart and I think that you know that." Evangeline harrumphed and hugged Rasha's neck. "Do not get all sentimental with me, Evangeline. The horse will be fine unlike you. We do not want a repeat of your grand entrance to Masyaf. Do we?" The small pout on her lips was immediately wiped away and replaced by an embarrassed blush. Altair smiled devilishly and took the saddlebags onto his own horse. "The horse is used to holding much more weight. We should be fine." Evangeline grabbed her stomach and a look of horror came over her face. "I am not calling you fat, Evangeline."
"Bye, Rasha," Altair pulled her onto the horse and then mounted behind her.
"He will be fine, Evangeline. You will see him again." Evangeline could not help but smile, as she had never thought Altair would be so comforting. She remembered very clearly how he used to hold her against walls with his knife to her throat and threaten her because he thought she was a Templar. She was a bit uneasy thinking about it, though she knew that those were different times and circumstances. Altair would never hurt her and they both knew it.
The young woman sighed as they began to canter away from Damascus, the mountains growing taller and the city becoming more and more distant. After a few hours, a few towns and small villages had been passed. They reached Yabrud by the end of the first day. The horse became tired and as night fell, they stopped in Al Nabk to rest until early morning. When early morning came, they set off once again and rode until they reached Shinshar. "We should be in Homs tomorrow," Altair said tiredly as he tied the horse to a post and handed Eva the saddlebags. She refused to allow him to carry them into the inn. The man sighed. "I take it you have never broken anything before…"
"Nope."
"Plan to live differently for a couple of months or it will not heal correctly or at all, Evangeline," he warned. "You cannot go climbing walls, begging to ride horses, and carrying things that you normally would be able to." Evangeline stared at him blankly. "You are not listening… I will not bother. Do not say that I did not warn you." Evangeline smirked and put the bags bag on the horse, then walked into the inn, leaving Altair to do it by himself. She stood by the doorway and waited for him with a shit-eating grin spread across her face.
"Come on, Altair! What are you waiting for?" Altair raised his chin and easily grabbed both bags, walking past her with his old confidence and swagger. "Well! Someone is being stubborn to prove a point today!" She said as she followed him up the steps. He paused and looked back at her, one foot placed on the next step. Evangeline raised her eyebrows and waited for a response.
"Oh, and you were not?" Altair retorted before completing the last few steps in the small building. The young woman shook her head and put her hand to her heart in mock offense. "Of course you were not. You could not possibly admit to your own stubbornness for one moment in your life, could you?"
"What stubbornness?" Altair rolled his eyes and opened the door.
"You are such a child," he said. Evangeline knew.
The partners in crime crashed on the bed and did not wake until Altair's internal alarm rang off before dawn. "Altair?" Evangeline asked quietly before she fully accepted her exhaustion. She received a slight hum of acknowledgement from the man, proving that he was just as wiped out as the young woman was. "I love you…" she managed before yawning and closing her eyes. The bed shifted and a strong arm wrapped around her, keeping her warm as the harsh desert nights fell upon the small village of Shinshar and the inn where they were staying.
"I love you, too, Evangeline." With that, they fell asleep in peace, trying to get as much rest as they could before they departed for Masyaf the next day. Homs was approaching and so was the danger of the guards of Yasir Halabi. On any given day with Altair, Evangeline would have the utmost confidence in everything that they did. That night, however, was different. She did not trust Al Mualim with Altair. There was a reason that the man on the mountain was in charge. What if that meant that he could kill Altair? What would she do? It hurt her to think that she had put all of her eggs into one basket, but what if it was true? Evangeline would never be able to live with herself if something happened to him…
These thoughts plagued her in the most annoying ways. She knew that she should not think them. She knew that Altair knew what he was doing and that he was doing it for the right reasons. She also knew that she had to have more faith in him than she did at times. Confidence is one thing. Faith is another. Evangeline had it, but not enough. After a few hours, her body finally gave into what it wanted the most: sleep.
"Evangeline? You must wake up," Altair said in his usual, wide-awake voice. Evangeline groaned as the man began to throw pillows in her face. "Rise and shine, Eva." She peeked with one eye to see that there was no sun out yet. It was just as it was the other morning. Those days were full of monotonous déjà vus. "Evangeline, we need to leave," he whined like a small child that was not getting his way fast enough. There was a comical smirk on his face. He knew that he was being annoying.
"You are lucky that I think you are cute," Altair grimaced at the small and feminine term of endearment. The young woman sat up and threw her dress over her shalwar and kameez and rolled her hair into what appeared to be a bun of sorts. They began to gather their things and walk out of the door.
"Or else what?" He asked.
"Is your main goal to prove how much stronger you are?" Evangeline asked.
"Maybe," he replied. She rolled her eyes and stepped on a rock that was tall enough to help her onto the horse by herself. "Maybe not," he said, mounting the horse behind her after he attached the saddlebags to the saddle. "Are you ready?" She nodded and they began onto the trail. Homs was a few hours in their future. Evangeline reassured herself that she was overreacting and they left the small village of Shinshar.
Disclaimer: Violyss only owns her fabulous set of super-sexy, super-interesting, totally non-conceited, original characters.
Hello again! I want to do a really big thank you for all of the comments and the super-awesome follows and favorites! It flatters me to no end. I really think that you guys are awesome. Cherubs, you make writing fun.
Last thing that I have to say is about this chapter: I am super sorry that it is boring. I got mad at that schizophrenic guy in the game and decided to throw him into this filler chapter. I mean, it would be weird if they all of a sudden showed up in Homs with no explanation of how they got there, right? So, yeah... sorry. Rate, review, party, dance, golf, compose, run for president, and be just as lovely as you all are already. Until Next Time!
-Violyss