Cearbhail: A new chapter. A good long one too. I'm impressed. This came out better than I had expected. If you like it, please let me know. And yes, I do realize the historical crapbasket I have right now, with the Mongols, Assassins, and blah blah blah. It's a parody, don't get hung up about it, just enjoy the story... damn history buffs -_-

[Malik Ishtar]

Dear journal,

Because I am starting a new adventure, I have decided to log my thoughts in a journal. I do this so that I may look back and think about how I have grown or remember something that happened recently. I will begin with what happened in the past four days. I was in the battle to take back Masyaf from the invading force led by the Templars. I was lightly wounded when I um…was stabbed by an enemy sword. It's ok because I totally took them out afterwards. Then I bravely marched off to the herbalist to receive her healing. She patched me up and then Al Mualim invited me into his study to give me a top-secret assignment. I am invading England and messing with the Templars. I am to mess with King Richard's replacement, some king located in Nottingham. Keep his attention divided so that the Templars will be distracted and chaotically running around. The only restriction is that I'm not to kill any higher ups. Only knights and stuff. Too bad for the King of England then.

After I promised the herbalist that I'd be back for her hand in marriage, I took off on horse for England. I think she'll wait. She only shoved a healing salve into my arms and told me in my dreams. Hear that? She wants to be in my dreams. On my way to England, I seemed to have gotten lost when I ended up by some giant wall that stretched on for miles. But I found some nice barbaric tribe called 'Mongols' that promised to show me where I was on the map if I helped them get past this stupid wall. So, I climbed up and killed the guards. The Mongols were very happy with me and gave me some meat that looked human-ish. Well, it tasted bland and after an hour, I was hungry again. But, it was kind of them anyway. They told me how to get to England.

On the third day, I ended up in France. I could tell by the smell. I met these three charming men that were doing as ordered by their French King Louie. I helped them kill off some traitors in return for a map of the area and a carriage for my horse. It's a small carriage, really just big enough for store some food and for me to sit down comfortably. I used that map to find my way to England, somehow. It's now the fourth day and I can say that I'm finally in England and I've not even seen one Templar knight. They must all be out to the war. Oh well, I'm still tasked to stay here and create chaos. I think I'll just go through the, how they call it, The Sherwood Forest. Once I reach Nottingham, I'm sure to do some real damage.

Malik Ishtar, Assassin.

…

I closed my journal and sat back. The forest pathways were nice enough for me to easily enjoy the ride. Sherwood Forest seemed a nice quiet place. I doubted that I'd run into anyone in here. If the map was correct, I would be in Nottingham in a couple hours. My horse had been going like crazy for the past few days and it deserved some rest. The forest itself wasn't a bad location to hold up. It wasn't like I had a base inside Nottingham to set myself up in. I would be homeless unless I just broke into someone's home and killed them. That might attract some dangerous attention, however. Not to mention, I'm sure everyone would be suspicious of a Middle Eastern just popping up in England's capital during a time of war. I don't need to add any more attention than was necessary.

I looked down at my Assassin robes. I hadn't changed out of them, but I had pulled down the hood. I mean, it doesn't matter how I dress, I'll stick out regardless. If the enemy finds out about me, probably the better. Still, I should hide out and get a good look at this place and how it works. Who knows, I might find some recruits.

So, I pulled on the reigns and I heard the horse cry out in alarm before she stopped. I jumped off the carriage and walked up to the horse. I untied her from the carriage and carried her over to the river I could see just off the path. I gave her a few minutes to get a drink while I went back to the carriage to get some apples for her. When I reached the carriage, I didn't see any of my supplies that I had just packed. I had just been robbed!

I cleared my mind and allowed my eyes to close. When I opened them, the world had turned blue and white, my ears were silent, my other senses sharpened. Faint images of a man wearing a hood pulled over his head started forming near my carriage. The man jumped up onto the back of my carriage and he waved his hand. Several other men, all dressed similarly, ran up and started grabbing my crates. Then, just like that, they took off.

I started cursing under my breath. I had only stepped away for a few seconds. They must have moved really quickly and quietly to come into my carriage and steal my goods. Not to mention they must have been following me for a while, just waiting for me to step away. Really good at stealthing. I think I just found some recruits. Or enemies. They must know the area and if they're thieves, I bet I can get them to work for me. The only problem is that well…they're thieves. Either way, I had to get my supplies back.

I looked back at my horse. She should be just fine where she was. I had to follow this trail before it faded for good. I started replaying the image and started chasing after the invisible phantoms. When they stopped, I thought I had reached a dead end. But they were pulling out sticks with strings attached to them. I heard about these, they were bows. That had to be arrows that they were attaching to their bows. Then they fired the bows and started jumping into the trees. Somehow they had defied gravity as they ran straight up. I can only guess that they had wire attached to their arrows and had used them to pull themselves up the trees. That made sense.

So, I did the Assassin thing and started climbing the tree. It was pretty easy, considering I've climbed whole buildings and mountains for training and then jumped off of them into haystacks. I think climbing a tree would be easy.

When I cleared the first ten feet of the tree, I lit up my eyes again. I could see the thieves now racing across the branches, almost running at a quickened pace. I took off, pushing off my branch, landing on one not too far away. I was retracing step-for-step the leader's steps. I had to find him, if not some of his comrades.

I continued to keep my eyes open on both the leader's trail and where my feet were landing while I raced across the branches. I don't know how long I continued chasing, but eventually my eyes started aching, so I stopped. I decided a different tactic was needed. This was his normal path, so…if I weakened the trees, sabotaged them…I could make it impossible for him to run.

I quickly shook that idea away. If I ruined these woods, and he joined me, then it would not make sense for me to ruin his advantage. No, I would find him and then see about recruiting him. If he did not join, then I would either kill him or destroy his advantage.

I ran as fast as I could, dodging odd branches, while keeping my feet on some other branch at all possible times. I didn't bother looking down at the ground, I knew how far down it was. I kept my eye on the spectral thief and attempted to keep up with his retreating image. I wondered how I was going to catch up with him when I was too busy keeping behind his afterimage. Then his image finally stopped. He motioned for his followers to stop as well.

I stopped and continued to glance at him. He gave some weird flick of his fingers and his thieves all took off. He was busy looking down at something. He started climbing down the tree, so I followed. When we both touched the ground, I could see him coming up to a river. He was reaching for a horse, untying it. Hey! That was my horse.

The thief jumped up onto the horse, pulled on the reigns, and took off with it. Shab! He stole my horse! I clicked off my vision and rubbed my exhausted eyes. He led me in a circle, hoping to get me away from my horse. Then, he stole my horse. I shook my head in disappointment. Oh well. I couldn't do much about it now. I could continue chasing him but he was faster than I could keep track of, especially with my horse.

So, I reached into my pocket to pull out my map. I felt it wadded up in my pocket. Weird, I thought I folded it. When I pulled it out, I didn't see my map, I saw a crumpled piece of paper. A note. I uncrumpled it and read it.

Thank you, kind sir, for: your food, your horse, your map, oh, your gold. And your journal. I had an interesting read. I want to meet you, but not here. In Nottingham, since you are journeying there anyway. By the well on the west side of the town, near the entrance to the forest. I will be there at sun down. Just follow my trail; you seem to be good at it.

Signed, The Hood.

..

I rolled my eyes as I crumped the note and tossed it back in my pocket. Great, this guy had time to get into my back pocket and shove this back there, while stealing my map in the process. When the hell did he do that? Some Assassin I was…getting owned by a thief and not even knowing it. I bet this stuff never happened to Altair.

I sighed as I started trudging my way through the pathway. I used my sight to see the thief charging off with my horse every few minutes, just to make sure I was heading in the right direction. In an hour of walking, I could finally see the outlines of buildings and smoke. As I drew closer to the boundary for the forest, I clearing that began the town of Nottingham. I could even see the well that the thief had told me to meet him at. The sun was beginning to set. Good, I made it here just in time.

The walk itself was long but it gave me a chance to think about what exactly this meant. This thief was good at whatever it was that he did. I bet he'd make a great addition to my team. I figured if I put a team together that it would be easier for me to create problems for the Templars. I wouldn't have to worry about getting caught and that being the end of it. A team would make it easier for me to elude capture or even escape.

So, I pulled my hood up as I walked into the clearing. I waited near the well for this meeting to take place. It didn't take long. I'd say only after a few minutes of me standing there, I could see the thief walking up to me. He was wearing a green cloak not different from my own robes. He had that bow thrown over his body and his had a quiver of arrows over his shoulder. Yeah, this was my thief alright.

I looked around, activating my vision. I could see splashes of red forming up in the trees. Those must have been his guys all watching us. Maybe this was a trap. But, what else could he steal from me? He had everything but my weapons. Oh…he wanted my weapons. That I can understand.

The Hood spread his arms out, smiling at me. I could barely see his face but I could easily see his smile. It looked genuine. Too bad I couldn't trust his smile any more than I could trust his people staring down at me from the treetops.

I nodded to him. "I got your note. So, now. You wanted to meet me. Why?"

He bowed to me, an unusual way to greet someone. "I just wanted to meet you face-to-face. I am Robin Locksley, but everyone just calls me the 'Hood'. You are Marik Ishbar, right?"

"Malik Ishtar." I responded. "So, why did you want to meet, or did you just want to rob me again?"

The Hood shook his head. "I stole from you to see how you'd react. You reacted by chasing me. You lost even more though but you still followed me. I congratulate you on chasing mercenaries through the forest, up in the treetops no less. I bow to your courage." He bowed again. "And I offer you, information. You are here to mess with King John, correct?"

"That depends. Is this King John the ruler of Nottingham and King Richard's replacement? Will messing with him reach the ears of King Richard? Will messing with him disrupt the Templars?" I asked him continuously.

The Hood nodded to each of those. "Not only that, but if you do your job correctly, you can even disrupt King Richard's supply runs. If his troops run out of food and arms, they'd have to retreat early."

"Then yes, I'm here to mess with King John. My question is this; why let me know this? You live here, are you not in favor of your king?" I asked as I started pacing around. I was finally getting some information. I wanted this flow of information to continue, but it would help if I could trust him first.

The Hood gripped his bow and squeezed his hands. I could see him clenching his teeth. My mentioning his favoring of the king had upset him. He must not like the king after all. "I'm in favor of King Richard. King John is taking all the power he can get and he's ruining the lives of the common folk around here. Taxes are destroying lives, boys are being recruited as hunters and warriors. He's even hiring Assassins to kill King Richard so that he can claim power for all time. You are an Assassin but yet…you're here to hurt King John. If you create enough of a mess that King Richard has to return, then King John will lose his throne. So, helping you will help us. I do have a question for you, however." He paced around, coming closer to me. "Why not just assassinate King John? That will force King Richard to return."

I shook my head. "Not my assignment. I'm only to slow the Templars down. If I kill King John, my presence will be discovered and I will most likely be killed. That will compromise the Brotherhood and the Templars will be on a death-march to kill us. It won't be a crusade anymore, no reach for holy land, but an extermination of our group."

The Hood nodded. "Very well. I will take any help I can get. Let me show you around the town, Assassin. From there you can tell me about your plans."

I nodded back to him. "Thank you, Hood. I was not expecting you to be so…cooperative."

He reached in to take my hand for a handshake. I accepted it with a nod of my head and waved him forward. "Let us walk the town. I wish to find a suitable place to fill you in on what it is that I need."

That was when I heard a loud scream from nearby. The Hood cursed under his breath. "No, not another one!" He screamed as he took off running. I took off, following behind him.

"What is it?" I asked.

He didn't slow for me. "There's a man stealing women from their homes and off the streets. He sells them to the French as cheap entertainment. I've been chasing him for weeks, but he always escapes. I know that scream…that was Red." He said as he sprinted down an alleyway.

"Red?" I asked. I jumped over a pile of hay as I tried to keep up with him.

"Yes. Little Red." He said as he jumped up onto a roof. I followed right behind.

…

[Little Red]

"What do you have in the basket, Little Red?" Big Wolfe said as he pushed me against the wall. He was a giant of a man with a big stomach and a nasty appetite for deflowering women. He could easily crush me with a push of his hand. I wish I hadn't decided to go to my Grandma's house tonight. Sure, it was bingo night but…I should have just stayed in. The streets weren't a good place for a small woman like myself at night. I guess I was just curious about what was happening to my coven. I guess I knew now. Big Wolfe was taking them.

I looked down in my basket. What was inside it? Well, he was about to find out. I pulled my basket up and shoved it at him. "Just wine and pie. Want it?" I asked, my voice coming out as a worried cry.

He kept me pinned with one of his hands but used the other one to lift the lid of my basket. "What is the crap? This isn't wine!"

I packed as much pepper flakes and dust as I could imagine. I didn't know what I was going to find, but I knew that pepper flakes could blind anyone. I rammed my knee into my basket, turning my head and closing my eyes as I did so. I heard, rather than felt, the pepper fly into the air. I had to keep my eyes closed until I got a chance to pour water down my face just in case I got some pepper in my face.

I heard Wolfe howl in pain and I felt his hand clear from my shoulder. I took off running as fast as I could, trying to feel my way through the alleyway. I risked opening my eyes and was rewarded with a hot flash of pain in my left eye. I guess I got pepper in it. I turned around to see Wolfe scratching at his eyes as he tried to find me. "You better run, Little Red! Don't just stand there boys, go get her!"

Boys? I found that out when suddenly several men came out of nowhere and tackled me to the ground. They clasped my arms and held me down while Wolfe blindly stumbled out of the alleyway and into the field where I now was. Why wasn't someone coming to help me? Was it because I was a witch? It had to be.

I watched as Wolfe stumbled up to me, still rubbing his eyes. They looked bloodshot. "Little Red, Little Red…quit running from me. Just give up, like all your little girlfriends did."

I struggled against my holders. "What did you do to them? Did you rape and kill them?"

He stepped back, laughing at my accusation. "Who? The big bad Wolfe, rape and kill? No, what I do is profitable. I sell your little whores on the black market for weapons that I in turn, sell to the Templars for a nice profit. I run a vast market of weapons and whores. You're next on my list. I'm sure you'll grab a nice price with the French."

I watched as more of his allies formed up behind him. "But of course, I am going to test you out to see if you're even worth selling."

As he started walking up to me, I saw a flash of white fall from a ceiling, landing in a pile of used hay. "What? Is this chicken crap? Oh great." I heard someone mumble from the hay.

Wolfe heard it too. He turned around and looked at the hay. "Is someone there?" When no one answered, he motioned to his goons and they started towards the haystack.

Goon 1 walked up to the pile of hay. "Sir, I think that no one's in here." Then he was suddenly being pulled in. "Oh God why!" He screamed as he disappeared in the hay. "Oh God…he stabbed me! He's still stabbing me!"

Goon 2 stepped back. He suddenly reached for his throat. I could see the crimson red of blood rolling down his neck. He fell backwards, silent. I took this time to shake violently. I still had pepper flakes on my dress. If I shook them loose, I could get them in my captor's eyes. I found myself closing my eyes as I brought my legs up. My captors screamed in pain as my legs contacted with them. Maybe I couldn't reach their heads because my legs were short and I was only 5' 2''. But the pepper dust was definitely in their eyes now.

I broke loose from their hold and took off running. I heard Wolfe scream my name and he took off in pursuit of me. I ran back into the alley. If I grabbed my basket, I could use more pepper against him. It was the only weapon I had. When I turned around, I didn't see Wolfe. He wasn't chasing me. I wondered where he went.

…

[Malik]

I watched as the man took off running. I couldn't kill him. From what I heard, he was a supplier of the Templars. They would notice his disappearance and I wasn't to mess with big time players. But that didn't mean I couldn't screw with him and make his life hell. I watched from the rooftops as the girl known as Little Red brushed off her white dress and pulled a red hood over her head. Ah…so she was named after her red hood. I thought it was because she was a ginger, which she was.

I looked up at Hood, who was nodding in joy. "You did a good job, Assassin. You live up to your namesake. Thank you for protecting her. She's a minority here."

"Why?" I asked.

"She is a member of a coven, a den of witches. People fear what they do not understand and for that…she is ostracized. I had a feeling that the disappearances were not accidental. Now I know. Wolfe is selling the coven members as sex slaves to get weapons for your enemy: the Templars. I'd say that protecting the covens and killing Wolfe would benefit your cause, as would messing with King John. You came here to mess with the Templars. In doing so, you will be helping our town." He stuck out his hand. "May I join your cause?"

I took his hand. "Yes you may. And we should have a chat with Little Red as well. If I'm going to be watching her, I might as well recruit her as well."

Hood nodded. "It would benefit us to have her on our side."

I stepped away from the roof. "Tomorrow perhaps. Can you follow her? I need to find a place to sleep."

The Hood placed a hand on my shoulder. "We both will retire at my hideout. I'll have one of my men follow her and keep her safe. Come, let's rest."

Cearbhail: So, the conclusion to the second chapter. It's getting better and soon the crazy stuff will happen.