Hello everyone! Did you miss me? :D Did you miss Alera and Altaïr? Well the wait is over my friends cause here is your Christmas presents… Notice how there is an 's' on the end of that. ;D

~Dora~

Chapter 25

The Blood Note and Meeting a Legend

Altaïr lay there. Still trapped in his darkness. He tried to think and gain consciousness, but no matter how hard he willed himself to move, he couldn't. His eyes were still shut tight. His sword lay unmoving in his right hand while his hidden blade was unsheathed in his left. Neither was blood stained, for they knocked him out cold before he could do anything.

Little by little, his senses were coming back to him, but just barely. He smelled the earth on which he lay. He felt the dirt underneath his still fingers. His body just wouldn't move and his eyes just wouldn't open. Images flashed through his head. Some were happy, and some not so. One showed he and Alera in a lover's embrace, then it flashed and changed to her crying and running. The argument they had earlier came into view in his mind's eye, then her running again. Finally it flashed to the struggle. Alera's blood curdling screams rang out loud through his mind, like it was happening at that very moment. Suddenly, all went silent.

Altaïr opened his eyes. His vision was doubled and blurry. He groaned and rolled over on his back. He blinked his eyes a few times and his head started to pound. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes again. He then massaged the pressure point between his thumb and first finger. He did the right hand, then the left hand and then slowly opened his eyes. His vision was back to normal.

He stared up at the night sky, which was filled with stars. Another beautiful, clear night. As he scanned the heavens, a particular cluster of stars caught his eyes. Three stars, forming a straight line. "Orion's Belt." He thought. He looked at the other stars above and below the three. "Orion himself." The memory of that beautiful night came to him. Alera shared her secrets with him, "She trusts me. She cares about me." then something hit him. A realization. "I have got to find her. I will find her and I willkill those bastards."

He sat up straight, but not too quickly. He felt the back of his head. No blood was there, but he did have a bump. He pulled his hood farther on to his head and stood up. He popped his back, sheathed his sword and his hidden blade, then turned his senses on high alert. He was going to track them down.

He walked over a few feet where Alera's struggle had been. He bent down and looked at the numerous footprints in the dirt, and then he saw a big impression. That was where Alera had fell. It was then that he realized how fortunate he was for the moon to be full tonight. It was just enough light for him to see. He walked up a couple of paces and saw crooked lines in the dirt. "They must have drug her for a ways." Altaïr felt rage well up inside of him, but he had to keep calm and not get blinded by it, but he also knew he had to find her quickly. The way those guards talked about her didn't bode well. The words 'breaking her' and 'getting lucky' just made Altaïr want to slit their throats even more.

He had to find her before it was too late. Driven by this, he took off into a slight run, crouched to the ground every now and then to follow the lines. Soon, the lines stopped and turned into heavy footprints. "One of them picked her up and carried her." He whispered to himself. The footprints lead through all of the back alleys. Weaving in and out, taking turns left and right. Suddenly, the footprints were lost. More sets were identified. He looked up to see he had walked into a merchant's area. Footprints were everywhere from the days bustling crowd.

He back tracked a few paces and tried to slowly follow the footprints, but it was useless. They had disappeared in the mass. He ran further ahead, eyes scanning the ground for anything out of the ordinary. He looked down all the alleyways that were in the area, but all were a mass of tracks. "Damn it, no!" he cursed. Altaïr backed tracked again, but once again it was in vain. Suddenly, he took off into a run. He turned a right and scaled the wall of a building.

He went all the way to the top and balanced out on to the perch of the structure. He closed his eyes for three seconds and concentrated, then opened them. He scanned the city with his eagle vision, but all he saw were a few beggars lying in the alleys. They were glowing white. He saw the occasional guard pacing a couple roofs away from him, but no sign of the high guards. He closed his eyes to shut the eagle vision off, then he opened them and jumped down the building and rolled onto the roof. He stood up and began to pace, raking his brain for clues.

Suddenly, he stopped. Something had caught his attention. He strained his ears to hear anything. Something was on the wind. It sounded like the call of a bird…. "No… Not just a bird… That's an eagle." Thought Altaïr. He looked up into the moonlit sky and searched. He thought he saw something off in the distance. It called again and sounded closer. It was an eagle. Altaïr held his arm up. The eagle chirped and flapped his wings and landed on Altaïr's arm. He realized who it was immediately.

"Alario!" the eagle flapped his wings and thrusted his neck forward with the scrap of paper in his beak. Altaïr's heart started to race. "What is this? Who is this from?" Altaïr grabbed the piece of paper and unfolded it. The first thing he realized was that it was written in blood.

Altaïr. I'm trapped in our target's palace. Many guards. Please come quick. Held as prisoner and soon to be sold as slave. If you can't save me, save as many as you can. Kill Abu'l Nuquod. I am in a white slave outfit. Be careful.

-Alera

His heart did a flip. She was still alive! But the fact that this was a blood note worried him even more. Was she hurt? Had they touched her? Altaïr felt something wet brush against his hand. Alario had something in his talon. He took the feather from the bird and held it up into the moonlight. The tip of it was stained with blood and he realized this feather was one of Alario's. He looked back down at the bird and realized something else was hanging from his beak. Altaïr took it. A piece of silver shined at the end of the brown leather cord. He held it up to the light again and his heart sank to an abyss. "Her necklace…" he whispered. "Alera…"

He realized the silver was the Assassin's charm and the brown eagle feathers blew softly in the wind. Alario nipped at his hand and Altaïr looked at him. The eagle had a look of determination in his golden eyes. Altaïr nodded. "We will get her back. I promise." The eagle chirped. Altaïr pulled his hood down and put her necklace on. He pulled his hood back up and tucked the necklace beneath his clothes. He put the note and the eagle feather in his pouch on his side. He then looked back at Alario.

"Take me to her. Fly as fast as you can, my friend. I can keep up." Alario took off from Altaïr's arm. Alario flew fast and low so Altaïr could see him. Altaïr ran right below the eagle, matching his pace. Determination drove him. He didn't care how many people he'd have to kill, just so long as he could get to her, rescue her. He hoped no one had taken her. He hoped he wouldn't be too late and he begged and pleaded to fate and luck, that when he gets there, she won't be dead or broken…or both.

Guards walked on either side of me while Abu'l walked in front. He led me back down the hall and up some stairs and through the first door on the right. We walked into a room. It was lavish and everything looked expensive. The carpet was silk and soft on my bare feet. Intricate tapestries hung from the walls. Porcelain vases covered a few shelves while a pile of gold coins covered a desk. Most likely the profit from the last party. Abu'l sat down on a pile of cushions.

"Please, sit." He said. I hesitated a second. He stared at me. "No harm will come to you. Sit. I wish to talk business with you." I sat down on the cushion, but never took my eyes off of him. I was on full alert in case anyone tried anything.

"I do not wish to discuss any kind of business with you. Making a deal with you is no better than making a deal with the devil. There's always a catch and something always trips up." He chuckled at this.

"I have made several deals in my years, assassin, and look at where it has gotten me." he held his hands out and motioned around the room. "Perhaps I have made a deal with the devil… Perhaps I am the devil." He smiled maliciously.

"Either way, I will be doing the world a favor…by killing you." I spat out. His ominous laughter rang out around the room. He looked at his guards and waved them off.

"Leave us." He said sternly. The guards looked at each other. "Leave now!" Abu'l shouted. This guy seems to be a bit on the crazy, bi-polar-ish side. The guards left in a hurry and shut the door.

Abu'l clapped his hands twice and two Japanese girls came out of corners that I didn't see earlier. They had golden belly dancer outfits on and their hair was pulled back and braided. They had golden slippers and golden, shear veils to go with it. One girl sat a teapot down on the small table in between me and the 'Merchant King' and the other sat two teacups down, one for me and one for him. Then the two girls moved back behind him to await another command.

"You seem like a smart woman, Desert Rose." Said Abu'l. The Japanese girls shifted and I saw their eyes widen. I smirked to myself. Apparently everyone knew who I was here and a lot of them feared me. "So will you just hear me out? If you don't like what you hear, then you can decline it. Simple as that." He said. I watched him as he poured tea into my cup and then poured some for himself. "Drink. It will help you feel better."

"I feel fine, thanks. Besides, you say I seem like a smart woman? Well, I'm smart enough to know that you laced my cup with poison." Abu'l sipped his tea and stared at me.

"Very well." He said with a sharp nod. He snapped his fingers. The girl on the left came and took my cup away and set it off somewhere. She then brought another back and took her place again. He filled the cup up again. "You have just made an excellent point to me. I shouldn't kill you, because you will bring a very high price. Congratulations, you just defied death." He chuckled and sipped his tea. I looked down at mine, but then something caught my eye. It was a glare, a shimmer from something.

I slowly looked up, so to not alert Abu'l, and what I saw shocked me… but sent my hopes soaring. The Japanese servant girl standing behind Abu'l on my right had a dagger in her hand. She had brought her hand from behind her back just enough for the metal of the dagger to show. The glare was bouncing off and hitting me in the eyes. The dagger then disappeared behind her. I kept calm and looked at the girl. Her eyes were wide and she looked nervous, obviously she'd never killed anybody, or handled a dagger for that matter. She nodded to me ever so slightly and I realized this dagger was for me.

I looked back down at Abu'l, but kept cool. Time to intimidate and scare this bastard.

I snorted and shook my head.

Abu'l stopped drinking his tea and stared at me, eyes narrowed.

"No. I don't defy death; I am a bringer of death. I obey the laws of death. He will come to me and tell me when it is time and I know when that time comes, I will either die saving an innocent; die saving the one that I love; or die in a battle with honor, killing a bastard like you." I grabbed the edge of the table and flipped it up! The teapot spilled all over him and he yelled and screamed. I smashed the table into his face and jumped over him. I kicked him as hard as I could in his back, which sent him rolling onto his face into the hot tea.

I turned to the Japanese girl and she gave me the dagger. I turned back around and found Abu'l facing me. I pointed the dagger at his throat and he held his hands up in surrender. His face was red and steam rose off of him. The side of his face was swollen and his nose was bleeding. I pressed the dagger harder into his throat and blood trickled down.

"Wh-Wh-What do you want?" he stuttered. I smirked.

"Not so damn tough now are you? Were are my robes and clothes?" I demanded. His eyes darted behind me and I turned around. White clothes were folded up on the edge of the bed. I looked back at him. "Have you cut them up yet?" he nodded. My stomach twisted and rage got the best of me. I kept the knife poised at his throat and turned to look at the Japanese women. Oh please let one of you speak in the normal tongue. "Have either of you ever handled a dagger before?" I asked. My eyes darted from one girl to the other. One of them looked nervous, while the other smirked.

"I have." She said with a Japanese accent. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"You have no idea how happy I am that you can understand me." I smiled. She smiled in return.

"Our clan must know many things, Desert Rose. We must be taught all things about the world… For I am an assassin as well." She smiled and walked up to me and took the dagger from my hand. I just stared at her.

"You mean… There is another order? In Japan?" I asked in complete shock. She nodded.

"You could call us an order I suppose… But I'm sure you would know us better if you heard our common name. Tell me, Desert Rose, you seem to know much about the world and its many cultures. Have you ever heard of a certain clan called Ninjas?"

Holy shit.

I swear I think I felt my jaw hit the floor.

I stared at the dark hair woman before me… I had read about them and heard many tails from my father, but never in my lifetime have I seen a Ninja, nor thought I would meet a Ninja.

"A-Are you?-"

"Yes." She said with a smile. "My name is Ruri, and I am a Ninja."

Ok, so her name Ruri means Emerald, which symbolizes protecting or being protected from evil and Emerald is also my birthstone! :D Hope you guys liked. Please forgive my mistakes if there are any. Stay tuned! More coming up!