Cearbhail: This chapter is awesome. I mean, well, you'll see. And I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it. The name of the chapter pretty much speaks for itself.

[Malik Ishtar]

Master,

I have established a small group here in Nottingham. My sister has arrived safely to our camp, and we've started training some new recruits to add to our cause. I have met King John, without him seeing me. He is a Templar, as so are a few associates of his. Eavesdropping on their conversation, I have learnt that the Templars in Nottingham are trying to acquire three suspicious artifacts: some sort of holy lance, some cross, and an object that they believe to be in Masyaf. They plan on attacking Masyaf until they get it back, whatever it is. I thought I'd let you know, in case other battles distract our town's guards. In any case, these Templars plan on using these items to do something (whatever it is, I don't know yet.) If you wish it; I will spend resources to find these items. If you also wish it, I will begin killing these Templars before they become a threat to not only our Order but to everyone in general.

I wish to inform you of the actions I have taken here in Nottingham. I have recruited three new initiates; as I have told you. I have recruited an army of mercenaries and thieves; as well as a small coven of witches. I have also caused the death of many knights. I have also destroyed half a port town, blew up a mine, and weakened the town's wall by blowing up one of their troop towers. None of this was on purpose, mind you, and it did lead to the deaths of some of my comrades…but I will make it right. We are in the midst of finding a suitable place to make our base of operations, but no luck yet.

Please inform me of what you wish me to do. This robin has been assigned to act as our in-between. Her name is Victoria.

Malik Ishtar…

…

I tied the note to Victoria's leg. I patted her on the head, and she chirped happily in response. She stretched out her wings, flapped crazily, and then took off to the air. I watched as the robin flew off into the sunset. Had the entire day passed by that quickly? Last I checked, I told Locksley and Red to catch fish. That was two days ago. Laila and I have taken turns watching over them. As far as I could tell, neither of them has gotten any fish. Thing is…they can't use their bow…or their magic. They have to use their hands. And that can be hard when you're used to other methods. Also, they're blindfolded. Just so that they have to focus on their gut instinct. Tonight when the moon's out, they will take the blindfolds off. If they don't get any fish by the end of tonight, I'm not sure they will have the strength to continue tomorrow.

Before leaving to go relieve my sister, I decided I'd check in on Brian. Earlier today, he went out to practice some basic sword slashes on a tree. Well, the tree was old and it broke underneath his slash. He took a pretty nasty hit to his shoulder when a large branch fell down on top of him. Damn kid; he's too accident prone, and refuses to rest when he needs to. Well, not only did he reopen his wounds, now he has a broken arm and a concussion. That girl pretty much screamed her voice down until she couldn't talk anymore. Now she was just hanging around his tent, tending to his wounds.

As I pushed the flap to his tent open, I could see Vicky curled up in a ball. I could hear her snoring lightly. I nudged her with my foot. She rocked to the side, her head bouncing a few times before she started groaning. She rubbed her eyes as she started looking up at me. "Assassin?" She mumbled. "What do you want?" She yawned into her hands, her voice coarse and squeaky.

"How is Brian?" I bent down so that she didn't have to raise her voice. It had to hurt to talk.

She rubbed her eyes, sighing. She turned to look at him. "I can't heal his arm any further." She whispered. "I've exhausted all my mana. His concussion is healed, though. I've managed to seal all his wounds…again." Her voice started disappearing. She cleared her throat, coughing hard. She grabbed her throat, wincing at me. She pointed to the flap, whispering. "Check in tomorrow."

I nodded to her, walking past her and up to Brian. He looked like he was trying to toss and turn in his bed, but he was strapped down to where he couldn't move. Mostly it was because we didn't want him leaning on his broken arm. We tried to wrap up his broken arm as much as we could, but there was only so much we could do right now. I patted him on the head, saying, "Rest up."

As I turned away, I heard the bed shift. A hand snaked out, grabbing my ankle. "Sir…spar with me." I heard Brian saying groggily as he started opening his eyes.

Vicky stood up, opening her mouth like she was going to yell at him. When she started, her voice disappeared and she went into a coughing fit. As she started calming down, she cleared her throat, sitting down. She sighed as she knocked Brian's hand away from me. "No fighting." She whispered to us, her voice sounding broken and ominous. "Or you'll only get hurt further." She sat up, looking Brian in the eye as she leaned near his cot. She looked up at me, pleading me with her eyes. "No letting him get hurt."

I nodded to her, and then looked down at Brian, who glared up at me with determined eyes. "Brian, I will spar with you when your body has recovered. If you wish to fight me, then rest as much as you can. Until then, I'll be by the river making sure everyone else has their training."

"Will you train me to be a better knight?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I am no knight; I cannot train you to be one. I can however train you to be an Assassin. You are around the correct age to begin the advanced training. You understand the basics of swinging a sword, but do you know what do with your fists, a knife, a rope? If you run into more foes than you can handle, are you prepared to stand your ground and die like a martyr, or will you run and disappear like a ghost? Will you abandon your armor and honor for stealth and precision?"

He stared up at me, his eyes questioning me. "Will I become stronger than a knight?"

I nodded. "You already know how to be a knight. I can teach you how to be more."

Brian nodded, laying his head on his pillow. "I accept then. Please train me to be an Assassin."

"Report to me when Mother Goose says you're fully healed, and not a moment sooner." I said to him as I turned around, giving Vicky a nod of my head. She nodded back to me, mouthing 'thank you' before I left the tent.

"Now, close your eyes and sleep." I heard her whisper as I left the tent.

I allowed a quick breath escape as exited the tent. The air felt bitter against my face. It had felt so warm in the tent that I had forgotten that winter was around the corner. It was evening and the coldness of the night was already coming down on the camp. I wondered how cold it would get tonight. The reason why I was running the night shift was because I didn't mind being in the bitter cold, while my sister hated it.

As I looked around the camp, I could see the witches and the merrymen sharing a warm bonfire as they ate some meat from a deer they killed earlier the day. I hope Red and Locksley had some luck in catching some fish today. I would hate to see them dying tonight. Regardless, I wouldn't let them die; I would just as easily explain to them how I open my Sight while I search for fish. Of course, I had something special planned for tonight. While it was important for them to catch a fish, I had another plan that would show me just how much they've learned in one day's time. And then they'll get some food.

…

[Locksley]

"Red, how are you doing?" My fingers were practically frozen. My feet were numb. My eyes were covered by this stupid cloth, so I couldn't see anything other than the black cloth. It was getting even darker underneath so I knew the sun was setting. Heck, I could tell by how the sounds of the woods started dying down as most of the wildlife started turning in for the night.

I must admit, while running my cold and frozen fingers in the river to find fish was a stupid idea, and will ultimately end with me getting my hands chopped off because of frostbite, I could feel something new. Just by feeling the way the water flowed around my ankles, through my fingers. The way the wind blew across my face, hitting all the trees around me, alerting me to their position by the rustling of the branches in the wind. I think I was beginning to see without my eyes. It seemed that there was this flow to everything, a hum that I couldn't hear, a pulse that I couldn't feel, a flow that I couldn't distinguish. I think I was beginning to see it now.

"Robin.." She cried to me. "I'm so cold…I fell in the river. I'm soaked…hungry…I can't see…and I'm soaking wet." I heard her fall into the river again. "I can't take much more of this. I might have to rely on magick."

"I ask that you don't." Malik's voice called as I heard him walk up to us. I could hear his every footstep, his every breath. In my mind, I could place where he was standing. I could feel his gaze upon me as if he were watching me. I could feel him cross his arms as he judged me as I stood. Was I imagining it, or was this the Sight that Malik had referred to? I couldn't tell for certain because I couldn't see anything.

As I started to stand up, I looked over to where I thought he was standing. "Sir, when can we take off these blindfolds?"

"I want to test something first. I haven't been telling you the whole truth. While I have been forcing you to fish while being blind, that's not the entire reason behind it. Your feet and fingers are pretty numb by now, right?" I nodded, and I'm sure Red and Zorro were nodding too. "When we climb things, we use our fingers and our feet. It can get pretty painful, so I've been using this cold water to train your fingers and feet to ignore pain. I made our Mother Goose use one of her protection spells so that you wouldn't suffer damage from freezing. I'm sure you've all noticed you're not frostbitten to hell and back. You can thank you tonight."

"Tonight?" Red asked. "Are we done?"

"After my test." Malik replied. "You should have had enough time to train your Sight enough to where we can begin your real training. So, everyone climb out of the river and walk up to me. Keep your blindfolds on. We're going on a nature walk."

"With our blindfolds on?" Zorro asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Isn't fishing in a river in the late fall with only your fingers dangerous…mind the fact that you're blindfolded?" Malik replied.

I had to admit, it made sense. When I climbed with Malik, my fingers were always screaming from gripping onto ledges. My feet would slip because it hurt to press them against flat stone for so long, while keeping all my weight on my shoulders and fingers. If he had planned this, I guess my fingers wouldn't mind some extra climbing now.

So, I turned my body around, carefully stepping over slippery stones that I could feel underneath my feet. I was careful to feel where the round stones were, balance myself before proceeding, and kept a feel on how strong the current was in the river. I was out waist deep. Red was still out by the shallows. I could tell by the way she sounded when she slipped and fell. As I could feel the level of water declining down to my knees and then down to my ankles, I knew that I was close to being out on shore. My stomach churned and I felt queasy. Hopefully, I got to put something in it soon. I was starving. And it was so distracting that I might not pass this test.

"Ok, everyone. Just follow my voice and then follow my footsteps. Listen carefully, and evaluate your surroundings." Malik said as he started walking off. I started to follow him, my feet cursing at me for being out of the water where the cold air could brush against them. I felt the sting of bitter cold winds on my feet, but I could feel the small wrap of protection given to me by Vicky. She was on heck of a witch for someone so young. I would be sure to thank her later on.

I listened for Malik's footsteps as he continued to lead us on. I could hear Red breathing rapidly beside me. She sounded anxious, like she was afraid of her own footsteps. The way she tentatively placed her feet on the ground told me so. I could feel her stepping…it was a weird sensation. I could actually feel her walk beside me. Zorro was more relaxed, like he was used to parading around in the dark without a clue as to where he was going. Zorro was a warrior, I had to remind myself. He was like Malik already, only not formally trained.

Malik's footstep vanished into a squeak of a fallen tree branch. Then another, and another. I paused as I slid my foot forward. I could feel the branch with my toes. I lifted my foot up, placing it on the branch. I could feel the giant fallen tree branch shift with my weight. I could tell it wasn't sitting on the ground, but in the air. Was this part of the test? It had to be. I could feel Malik standing several meters away, watching me with his arms crossed. I could feel his eyes glaring at me. I was used to walking across tree branches. For me this was nothing. So, I hopped on up as I normally would. My body seemed to lose all balance as the tree branch started to roll with my weight. Crap! I pushed off the branch, hoping my foot would find another one. It did, but just barely. I had to flex my toes so that I could keep a grip on the branch.

I allowed my breath to catch as I regained my balance on both branches. Ok, I got this. I thought to myself as I made all the paralyzing fear overwhelming me dissipate. It wasn't dangerous. "Oh, by the way, I have knives set up all around the obstacle course. Take one wrong step and you'll lose a foot." Malik called to us.

…

[Malik Ishtar]

I could barely hold a laugh as I told them that. These morons will believe anything I tell them. Good thing I didn't put knives down; they were having a hard enough time as it was. That being said…I do have bananas set up where the knives would be.

…

[Locksley]

I froze in my spot as I tried to feel around with my feet. It didn't help because each branch was far enough apart that I couldn't keep my balance and feel the next branch with my foot to see if it was safe to step on. And while dealing with balancing my own weight…whatever Red and Zorro were doing was affecting how my branch shifted. I had to keep my balance in check with what they were doing. Since these variously sized branches were obviously up in the air, I think I was beginning to see how it all formed. We started near the ground and I could feel that the branches were going upward. Malik was above us, I could tell. I see what he did. He made a branch net that traveled up into the trees. I bet he had other nets set up as well. If that was true, if I just leaned forward and used my hands to keep my balance while I find the next branch…this should work out fine.

I leaned forward, keeping my hands out grasping at the air. I found my foot settling down on a branch. I could feel the entire web of branches stretch out…like I could see the entire web. The way the web shifted, the way the weight was distributed, the way the vibrations from each step pulsed through the web, only to come crashing back. It was like a wave, a wave that I felt in the river all the time. Once I felt that, I found myself disappearing into the wave. I just started walking, already knowing where each branch was before I got there. My body automatically shifted with me, bending my knees when they needed bent, balancing when Red took a step to the right. I could actually 'see' the web, my friends behind me, the trees beside me that held the web up in the air.

Once I felt my foot plant down on solid wood, I knew that I was up on one of my hunting perches. I smiled as I patted the tree, and I looked over to where I knew Malik to be. "I can see now." I said to him. "I can actually see it. The way the wind blows, the way the water flows, the ebb of everything. I understand." I said to Malik, reaching out to grab his shoulder.

Next thing I knew, the blindfold was snatched from my eyes. I could see exactly how dark it was outside. It was almost pitch black. I couldn't see a thing, but…I could still see it all. I could feel it, even though it was hidden from my sight. I looked over to Malik, who nodded to me. "You are beginning to see. The Sight hasn't manifested yet, but with more practice, it will."

I looked down to see that Red and Zorro were gliding across the web bridge with as much ease as I had. Red smiled over to me, her eyes still blindfolded. Zorro smiled over to her, extending his hand for the noble fist bump. She actually looked over to him, bumping his fist in the appropriate manner. This was amazing. They were interacting like they could see each other, in the same way I knew I could see them while blindfolded. So…this is what it meant to have the Sight…to be part of a team. I had no idea…my men weren't trained properly. I could change that; because I could now see.

Malik waited as Red and Zorro walked up to us, each smiling at him for further instruction. I had just noticed that Malik was holding his sword. It was pitch black and he was raising his sword. With a quick flick, I watched as the tip of the blade flew up to Red's face, snatching the blindfold, and pulling it off her head. With the same controlled flick, he pulled the blindfold off of Zorro's face. Then he nodded to us, saying, "Let's go back to the river and see if you learned anything."

I watched as he casually strolled down the giant web of branches. It was still pitch black and I couldn't see him do anything, but I could still feel it. It was such a new sensation to me that I couldn't explain it, not even to myself. But when I started walking down the web, I found my body instantly responding by balancing for me. My body seemed to know what to do, regardless of me doing it. It was so easy; it was like it was a part of me all along. I just hadn't known it.

We walked across the woods for a couple minutes, making me wonder how long we had walked in silence before getting to the obstacle course. I was so ingrained with my stomach and listening to Malik walking that I didn't notice how long we walked for. When we finally got back to the river, I could see Malik waiting for us. He had two lit torches set up by the river. "Tonight we use some light. I can already see a lot of fish in the riverbed. Mostly because I had my sister bait the entire area while we were away. Now…" He said, walking up to us. "Your dinner is in that river. Catch it so we can go home and cook it. You can catch as many fish as you like. Just throw them onto the shore and I'll make sure they don't return to the river."

Just like that, I was walking back into the river again. It felt different this time. I could feel the water rushing against me, but I could feel more than that. I could faintly see where the fish were, like they were ghosts in the deep river. I thought the torches would help, but the casting of my shadow seemed to play illusions on my eyes. The reflecting moonlight didn't help either. So, I found myself closing my eyes and relying on what I felt. As I took a deep breath and concentrated on the flow of the river, a strange occurrence came to me. My hands, which were in hovering over the water, appeared in my thoughts. It was faint at first, but then I could see them with my eyes closed, as a blue glowing flame. More than that, I could see more blue flames all around me. They moved against the current of the river to feed. They were fish. So, I reached in, moved along with the flow of the river in order to mask my hand's existence, grabbed a fish, and yanked him out. I could feel him in my hand. It was real. I was so happy, I shouted in joy. All the fish around me swam off.

I looked around to see that Red and Zorro each had one of their own. They were just as happy as I was, and their screaming scared all the fish away. I looked to the shore to see Malik nodding in approval, clapping his hands. "Well, I guess that will do. You all did better than I had hoped for. On your first try…I'm jealous." Malik said while nodding his head towards camp. "Come on, time for dinner…and some real sleep."

I looked down at my fish. This was proof that I was becoming an Assassin. At first, I rode him off as an idiot, a buffoon that couldn't do anything to help this town. Now, I could see truth. With our help…I think he could actually do it. And not just this town, but all of England. Maybe even all of Europe.

Cearbhail: And thus...the apprentices are beginning to understand the power of Sight. while using a completely shamanic belief of how the energy of the world and the universe ebb and flow, it seemed appropriate for how Sight works. I mean, well, I don't want to say any more than that. Anyway, I plan on having fun with Brian once he heals up. And yes, he keeps getting hurt so that I have valid reason for Vicky to develop into a softer character. She seems too bratty right now and I guess that doesn't hurt anything and could in fact be a developing factor later in the story, but she seems to be too annoying right now and this seemed a good way to soften her up. You know since she likes him and all.