Cearbhail: I'm happy with this chapter. Now that the first mission and retaliation are all set and done, I can start getting into a comfortable storyline with character interaction, actual story telling, and development of villains and the such. I'm sure I'll figure out what I want to do with the three holy items later (and a little suggestion would not hurt), but for the most part, this is supposed to be a random scenario story, much like my Chronicles of Lydia story. I will begin that immediately. Enjoy.

[Malik Ishtar]

Dear journal,

It's been two weeks since I rescued the witches from the pirate ship. Over the course of two weeks, we've had some time to get into a routine. The morning hunt and gathering patrols go out and secure food for the afternoon and evening, sometimes even gathering enough for a couple days' worth. Our new little coven has started resuming their own spell training, with the help of the new Mother Goose, a tiny 12 year-old girl named Vicky. But, she knows her stuff. I sometimes sit down to watch them do their spell work, and she's been able to teach our little witches how to actually do things like push and pull water and manipulate air. Yes, they can create breezes and splash water without touching it. Templars beware, we have water. However, it may come in handy one day, but I doubt I'll see it.

Apart from our usual run around, I've been sending some of Locksley's men around, having a few members infiltrate the harbor project, the wall rebuilding, and the mines. We can't seem to get a guy inside the courtyard, but I'll think of something. Every night, we get reports of how the town is doing, as well as some money to spend on new tents and food. We are currently saving up half of our earnings so that we may purchase a house. I'm sure we'll find someone who can buy us some type of logging later on. Other than that, things seemed to have calmed down now that the knights have something to keep themselves occupied with, instead of harassing villagers.

The only thing I could think of to mention is that fact that my sister and I have started teaching some of our new recruits the ways of the Assassins. Laila has taken Red as her apprentice, and I have taken Locksley and the weird sword fighter Zorro. We figured we'd start with these three so that we'd have a small army that could begin training the others as they learn. It'd be easier than teaching twenty at a time. That being said, we're teaching combative classes to both witches and merrymen. We're still creating an army, but they won't be Assassins like Red or Locksley. In time, maybe, but not right now.

…

I closed my journal, looking at the sunrise through the trees. The birds were chirping around the camp, and it felt relaxing. I was getting used to living outside in the woods. We had fresh food, money coming in from the mines and harbor building projects, and it wasn't too cold. Sure, winter wasn't too far away, and while I've never lived in cold weather, I hear it can be dreadful out here (and deadly). We had to secure a building soon or we'd start freezing. I was already shivering during the late nights, and I could tell that our witches were also suffering. Mother Goose stated that it wouldn't be a problem once she casted her warming spell, but I do not want to rely on her spells. It would only make her weaker in the long end.

Locksley and his men were already returning from their hunt. As the four of them marched into the camp, I could see several squirrels slung over one of the merrymen's back. Another group had a boar tied up on a carrying rod. Today's hunt went well. Too bad we had close to thirty people to feed. It should be enough, I guess. We had a few Littles out collecting berries and other edible vegetation. They had actually started their own garden, but it won't last much longer if the weather keeps growing colder, which it will in the long end.

I watched as Locksley directed his men in preparation of the boar meat. Better to cook it now than to let it rot. His men were not cooks, but they knew how to prepare wild beasts just as well as any professional chef I've ever seen. Sure, I haven't been here long, but even I know how to prepare a boar by now.

"Sir, should we start preparing lunch?" The giant man named Little John asked Locksley as he started carrying the boar away.

Locksley nodded, saying, "Might as well start cleaning the boar and start boiling water. Have a few hunters take some pails down to the river to fetch some water."

The 14 year-old boy named Jack, another son of a witch, and a practicing Little, ran up to Locksley. He threw his hand up saying, "I'll go fetch a pail of water."

Locksley nodded. "Take your sister with you; it's dangerous out there so take a weapon with you."

Jack smiled. "I'll take my wand. That's all I need. If I took anything else, I'd be tripping over my feet. I might fall and hurt myself."

Locksley scoffed, shaking his head in amusement, it seemed. "Fine, give the pail to your sister then. If you don't, have her carry a dagger or something sharp. If you run into anything that we could eat, like a rabbit or something, kill it and bring it back."

Jack nodded and ran off. "Yes, sire. I'll be back shortly."

"See that you do! We're down to our last three buckets of water that we can use, and cooking this meat will take up two of them."

Locksley turned his attention to the boar and started helping his friend John clean the boar. I left Locksley to his cleaning of the boar and walked over to the Brian's tent. It has been a week, but his wounds were still a little twitchy. He took quite a beating that one day, and he almost died because of it. He did small things around the camp when he could, but it was mostly bed rest for him. He would have recovered by now if it weren't for the…

"Draw your sword, Master Fishbar!" I heard from behind. I quickly turned around, dodging the end of a dulled wooden sword. Brian, the new boy, charged at me again, thrusting his wooden sword at me. I drew my own wooden sword, parrying the attack away. This was a bad idea; he was covered in several medical wraps and his wounds never finished healing. This was why his recovery was slow; he kept challenging me to fights and would end up even worse than he was moments ago. But there was no stopping him. Ever since he saw me training with Locksley and Zorro, he's been challenging me to fights calling me his 'Master'. If I didn't defend myself he'd just continue pestering me with his wooden sword until I did. For a mature kid, he sure is childish when he wants a fight. I guess in a way I've picked up another apprentice, this one very young, but…not as young as when I started.

"That's Master Ishbar…I mean Ishtar." I replied, pushing him back. "Now, put down your blade, son. You should be resting, not…" A quick kick to my shins kept me from finishing my thought.

"An opening." He said, charging up to me, slashing at my head.

I brought my hand up, springing my hidden blade. I caught his wooden sword with it. I twisted my hand, throwing his blade away from me and pushing it towards the ground. As the boy lost his balance and fell forward, I snaked my other hand out, grabbing him by the throat and pushing him back. "You lost."

Brian stumbled back a bit, rubbing his throat where I pushed him. He looked furious that he had lost to me. "You're an Assassin, right? You're what my father is fighting in the war, right?"

I nodded. So, he's finally asked the question I had expected for days. He's been fighting me for a week now, and I wondered when he'd finally ask me about my past. "Yes, I'm your father's enemy. If that troubles you, you may leave."

He shook his head, as much to my surprise as it was. "No, I don't think you would be my father's enemy. You're a good person. So…are all Assassin's as strong as you?"

Oh boy…that was a tough question. I was just a beginner; I wasn't something special. So, I waved to Brian to follow me. I walked to the camp fire and sat down on a log. "In my Order…I've only just started my training. My first week as a fully trained Assassin, I was thrown in a battle to defend my own town against a Templar invasion. I was among the first Assassins to attack the invaders. I fell on my own sword and escaped the death that followed several other Assassins around me. I watched as older, wiser Assassins as they attacked the Templars. I pale in comparison to them. There are Assassins so much stronger than me, so much wiser. That being said, I'm still ten times stronger than most knights out there."

"My father could beat you in a fair fight." Brian replied.

I chuckled. A classic thought process for a young boy. Of course he wanted his father to be the strongest knight, strongest fighter. He wouldn't return from war if he wasn't. "Yes, of that I am quite certain. That's why I don't fight fair."

"Hey, boy!" Mother Goose called from the other side of the camp. "Why do I see blood seeping through your bandages?" She called out as she marched up to us, her tiny feet attempting to stomp heavily on the ground. When she came close enough to grab him, she grabbed his arm and inspected his bleeding wound. "Look what you did! It's bleeding again! I just fixed this last night!"

Brian shrugged. "Oops?"

Mother Goose rolled her eyes before dragging him off the log and pulling over to his tent. "I swear… this is the last time I'm doing this."

I found myself chuckling at them as they retreated into his tent. "Be gentle with him!"

Brian half-smiled at my remark, but Mother Goose was not as happy. She turned to glare at me, her face fuming. "It's not like that!" She screamed at me before pushing Brian in the tent. "Ok, take off your shirt." Yeah, not like that at all.

After they retreated to the tent, I turned my attention to Red, who was walking up. She stopped a few feet from me, attempting a smile. I could tell that she was worried about something. "Do you have a minute?"

I nodded. "Of course. What is it?"

She pointed over to my sister, who was being dragged to the ground by several of Locksley's men. She was kicking and thrashing like she was a wild animal. Oh boy. "Someone spilt Laila's soup and now she wants to kill him."

Of course that's what happened. I nodded to Red, saying, "I'll handle it." So, I walked up to the struggling men that were trying to peacefully keep my sister pinned to the frost-covered ground. She managed to kick several of them in the balls and punched three in the nose by the time I managed to step up to her. I placed my hand on her shoulder, keeping her pinned. Then I took my other hand, brought it up to her forehead, and said, "If you continue on like this…I will have no choice but to flick you until you calm down."

She paused and looked up at my coiled finger. "You wouldn't dare." I flicked her in the forehead. When she tried to push me off her, I flicked her again, and again, and again, until she finally stopped pushing against me and groaned in annoyance. "Ok, fine. You win, brother."

I wasn't falling for it, so I continued to hold her down. "If you don't improve your behavior, I'll tell Dad that you're no longer welcome here with me. I'm sure he'll send a couple of his friends to come and collect you."

She started laughing in her crazy fashion, relaxing against my hand. "Do you think I couldn't handle them?"

"Of course I think you can handle anyone Dad sends to get you. I however, do not want to deal with what happens when Dad comes down here himself and yells at me for keeping you here." That was the truth. While she has the ability to do whatever she wants because no one could beat her in a fight…our Father had a way of controlling me and making me feel bad for her behavior. He understood well enough that I cared for her when he was away on assignment. He was barely there for us, but he taught us what he learned while he was away. He trained both Laila in me in our studies. It put us ahead of other Assassins in our class, but since his instruction was quick and to the point…we both developed clumsy traits from being rushed to do things.

Laila only smiled before pushing my hand off of her. "Ok, brother. I'm calmed down now. Should be begin our lessons for our students today?"

I waited a few seconds longer before I stood up and allowed her to roll off the ground. I nodded to her, saying, "You get Red; I will go get Locksley and Zorro."

Laila nodded, looking over at Red. "Ok, see you in the clearing by the river in ten minutes. She needs time to get dressed in our robes."

"How did you get those here anyway?" I asked.

"I packed several robes in case I found you already teaching an academy. Since you left without even saying goodbye, I figured you wouldn't have the sense to pack extra robes in case yours fell apart. I figured someone in our family needed to be ready for anything." That was something I always expected from my sister. While she may be a raving maniac with poor social training, she was the person who kept me in check; making sure I had all the house work done, the food pantries filled with vegetables. She kept me running because I was too busy keeping us fed with working around the town and training in the academy. We took care of each other basically. And she still was taking care of me.

I nodded my thanks to her. "I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here, sister."

She smiled at me, nodding back. "I thought the same thing when I heard you left."

I left my sister as she began telling Red about how we were going to train down by the river. I walked up to Locksley, who was still busy cutting into a boar's stomach, separating the meat from the organs without polluting the meat. I didn't see Zorro nearby, but that was probably because he was flirting with the witches picking fruits for our lunch. He didn't really do anything useful around the camp. He just loafed around and make smiley face with all the witches whenever he passed them.

"It's time for today's lesson." I said to Locksley.

"What is it today? Jumping off buildings and landing in haystacks? Or how to stalk across a rooftop while peeping on maids through their windows? How about how to lead a stealthy mission to free prisoners from a ship without attracting suspicion of the crown, leading to a massive purge of a minority?" He replied.

"No. You're learning a very essential Assassin trait: the Sight." I replied to him. "And don't think I have forgotten my failure, I bear it on my mind at all times. However, we cannot go back, we can only go forward. If we quit now, all the lives that have been lost in freeing this town will be for nothing. And now that I know that King John is a Templar, and so is Wolfe, I am needed here even more. They are up to something, and it's never anything good. Now follow me, we're going to find Zorro." From what I have heard about the Templars, they wanted to take over the world and would kill anyone that got in their way. The Assassins exist and operate so that we may keep everyone free. It would make since that King John is a Templar since he rules this kingdom with an iron fist. My job here was becoming more and more complicated every day, but I welcomed the challenge of saving this country.

"I believe he's with the twins: Jack and Jill. He offered to help them carry water back." Locksley replied as he started following behind me. He turned back to face Little John. "Little John, finish preparing that boar and then, when the water comes to a boil, start making some stew." Little John nodded back to him.

So, we quietly trudged through the marshy woods over to the river, which wasn't too far from our camp. Luckily, we were close enough to the river that we could get water every morning without straining ourselves. And since plenty of animals fled to this part of the woods to escape normal hunters (because we live in the marshlands), we find many of them first thing in the morning drinking from the river. It's the first place our hunters check their traps.

We heard light chatter ahead of us. It sounded like Jack and Jill. Indeed, I could see the two teens as they dragged several pails of water towards us. They were laughing about some joke that only the two of them would understand. Zorro was behind them, carrying several more on a giant walking stick thrown over his shoulder. He was laughing with the teens as he carried the giant stick. When he saw us, his grin melted away, replaced with an urgent stare at me. He knew we were about to start training. He couldn't wait to learn more.

When I first met Zorro at our camp, I was amazed at how he had taught himself how to fight so that he could protect his friends and family from a near-future bandit raid. Once he saved his small town from an attack, he started becoming the local hero. He protected the town from many threats, sometimes from within their own borders. Once he saw me fighting the knights, he requested the honor of learning from me. I've helped him improve his fighting in the short two weeks that we've been sparring, but I've been learning from instructors since I was eight. He taught himself when he was 16. He couldn't compare to me, not yet. But he was getting better. After today, we'll see about doing even more with his natural ability.

Zorro nodded to us, pulling the giant stick off his back and placing it on Jack's. Jack shouted out in surprise as he started falling over, due to having too much on his back. Jill lowered down at caught him with her free arm, keeping him from falling over. "Sis, get this off my neck. It's too heavy."

"Ok, Jack. Just…just let me put this water down before I spill it." Jill replied, gently placing the pail of water on the marshy ground.

Zorro bowed to me. "Master. Is it time for today's lesson?"

I nodded. "Yes, we're going down to the river. Come with us."

He gestured to the boy. "But…the boy can't possibly carry all that water."

I looked at Jack. "He can make several trips if he needs to. The camp isn't that far away."

Jack nodded at me, relieved that the giant walking stick filled with several pails of water was off his back. "Yes, sir. I will make sure they get to camp." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Locksley leaned against his bow, smirking. "Careful, lad. Don't carry too many of them. Don't need a repeat of the hill accident."

Jack nodded. "Yes, sir. I'll be careful."

We left the teens to their pails of water and we continued down to the river. The trip was rather silent after that encounter, although Zorro was curious as to what we were going to do once we got down there. I refused to explain to him what we would be doing, but instead I would show him once we got there.

By the time we got to the river, Laila and Red were already waiting for us. Laila was practicing her saber technique with Red, both using two of the wooden swords we took from the castle armory. When Laila saw me, she smiled and knocked the sword out of Red's hands with a simple disarming technique. "Brother! We were just getting bored."

I nodded to her. "We got side-tracked. So…should we begin?" When she nodded, I walked in front of everyone, looking at them all before taking in a deep breath. "Today's lesson will be how to use the Sight. The Sight is a trait that all Assassin's share. It is a way of seeing the world in a new light, a way of dispelling all illusions of the world and seeing the truth behind any riddle, behind any lie. So, today, we are going to practice teaching you the Sight."

I walked up to the river, my sister and the others following behind me. I turned to face them as I stepped into the river. "Since Assassins have trained in the Sight for generations, our young develop it early on, sometimes without even any training. But, it was learned in the early days, not passed on. So, we will train you in a way similar that is taught to others who have no genetic basis of Sight. While children in our town try to grab beetles under the sand to learn the Sight, you will learn by grabbing fish out of the river. These fish will be your dinner tonight. If you fail, you won't eat. And you won't do anything else until you've caught your fish. So, you either eat…or die."

Cearbhail: Wow, who knew that Malik could be so do-or-die? It's almost like he expects them to gain an entire trait that was developed by sages in the course of centuries in one sitting. I wonder how that will play out? Next chapter, I guess you'll find out.