Well, I finally finished this chapter, and it's my longest one yet! Wish me luck!
I apologize if my words in this chapter are a little garbled. I'm VERY tired…
Anyways… I'm going to rent "Meet The Spartans" On June 5th, Sports Day at our school. It's going to be great!
Declaimer: Like I said, I DON'T OWN IT, ANY OF IT! I just wish that I owned Altair… -Cries-
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Waking to the sound of birds chirping and the sunlight leaking into my window, I arose from the bed, only to find someone sleeping on their back on my floor.
That someone happened to be Rain.
I softly nudged her side with my foot,
"Rain…?" She shifted her position and grunted, making an upset face before rolling over onto her stomach.
"Rain… wake up!" I almost yelled, but hushed myself soon after.
"Ernn nooo… Go awayyyyyy…" She grumbled in agony as I lowered myself to the ground and sat beside her.
Sighing, I started to poke the side that was facing me, which happened to be her left side.
"Noooooooooooooooo…" She moaned in anguish as she swatted at my hand, blindly.
Missing my hand, I giggled as I launched myself onto her,
"POKE ATTACK!"
"Argh!!" She squirmed as I attempted to poke her in her side once again.
"I'm awake! I'm awake already!" She pushed me off of her as I continued to laugh.
Looking at me, she pouted childishly. I instantly stopped laughing as I saw her pout, as my eyes started watering.
Flashback:
'My sisters Ebony and Emily were once again sleeping in. They usually did this anyways… but this time, I was planning to ruin their beauty sleep that I never had, with a sneaky poke attack'.
'Sneaking into their room, which they both shared, I marveled at their tiny innocent faces as they slept. Now's my chance! I launched myself onto the sleeping form of Ebony as she slept peacefully, and poked her in her sides, making her scream out in laughter as her eyes snapped open.'
'"Ahhhh! Hahaha!! Stop it!" She shrieked, kicking at me with her small legs, barely harming me. I grinned evilly as I let go of Ebony and made my way over to a now terrified Emily. "No!! Please don't… please?" She almost begged and pleaded. "Heh…" I snickered as I jumped onto Emily and started tickling her a best as I could, while making sure not to crush her in the process.'
' She burst into an uncontrollable laughter as she struggled to get away, her eyes tearing up. "E-Ebonyyyyy! Help meee!!" she squeaked at her twin, sounding very cute in the process. Ebony nodded and did as she was told, and jumped onto my back and covered my eyes with her tiny hands. "Argh!" I faked being blind, though I could still see through her tiny fingers. "Nooo! I can no longer see my preyyyyy!" I swayed from side to side as I tumbled to the floor, taking Ebony with me.'
'She stood up just as fast as she had hit the floor and grinned at me. "We win! Again!" Emily hopped off of the miniature bed and hugged her twin. "Not just yet!" I stood tall, looming over them both, making their eyes widen in freight. Reaching out to them, I grasped onto them both, and lifted them off of the floor and dropped them onto the bed playfully, but softly. The twins squealed as I poked them both at the same time, laughing maniacally.'
'"I win!" I cried as I ran for the door. I stopped and looked back; only to see to frustrated red faces pouting back at me. I melted under their looks of evil cuteness and smiled. "No fair…" They pouted together. "Fine… fine, you guys win…" I held my hands up in defeat. They both smirked as they narrowed their emerald green eyes. "Ha! Sucker!" They both pointed at me as I gaped… They had tricked me… again. Instead of me winning this round. I left their room defeated, and pouting.'
End Of Flashback.
Tears fled my eyes, as I felt shrouded by darkness.
Grief and anger wrapped around my body like a warm blanket, welcoming, yet so cold.
I blinked as the tears kept on coming out, and shivered as a gentle hand reached out for my shoulder and swept the hair out of my face.
"Serenity?" Rain called, her voice was so distant. I cried out as she moved closer, only to wrap her arms around me.
Sobbing into her shoulder, she soothed my hair down with her free hand as she buried her face into my locks of sullen hair, tears filling her own eyes.
I heard the door click open silently as someone entered.
"What's…?" The person stopped in mid-sentence as they realized that something was wrong.
It was Altair.
I cried and cried until the tears couldn't squeeze out from under my tightened eyelids.
I tensed as I felt another pair of hands start rubbing my back; I relaxed soon after.
I knew the feeling of those calloused hands anywhere.
Breathing deeply, I lifted my head from Rains shoulder. Looking at her swollen eyes, I laughed as I wiped my eyes of any remaining tears.
"I-I'm so sorry…" I chocked out, almost wanting to cry again.
I felt horrible for making everyone so upset right in the morning.
She smiled, instantly warming my heart.
"It is alright, my child. But remember this when you are feeling down: Life may have its ups and downs, but just think, there could be someone, anyone in the world, who has problems worse then you do. You are allowed to cry, but not too much. Grieving is for the past, not the present."
Smiling, I nodded. Feeling slightly better, I felt Altair wrap his arms around me as they both lifted me up and off of the cold stone floor.
Leaving my room, we headed towards the training grounds.
As soon as we had gotten there, another older, wiser looking assassin, had led Altair away from us, and onto another training ground.
Sighing in boredom, I looked to Rain to see her focusing on something.
Following her gaze, I caught a glimpse of Malik before I was tackled to the ground.
"Pay attention to your surroundings! Is that not the first thing that Altair had taught you? Even if you are bored and in the assassin's courtyard."
Shaking his head from side to side, he lifted himself off of me and stood up, dusting himself off.
"Yeah… Sorry… I was just focusing on something else, I'll make sure to be more prepared."
Malik readied himself for another lecture, but Rain beat him to it.
"Serenity, Always be ready, and don't try to be, just always be."
Rolling my eyes at them both, I replied:
"Alright, I am sorry, I will pay more attention to my surroundings, and I will heed your warnings… happy now? Can we get on with the training?"
They both nodded, and led me into the ring.
Altair fell to the ground, but caught himself and rolled into a standing position.
This had been the hardest training he'd ever had.
As soon as they had left Rains' and Serenitys' side, he had been tossed into a mob of assassins', readying themselves for battle.
"Excellent, Altair. You have learned your body well, but can you handle dodging three at once?"
Just as that was said, three assassins' leapt out of the corner and started slashing at him ruthlessly.
Rolling from side to side, dodging and moving out of the way of the furious dancing blades, he felt one make contact with his left shoulder.
"Argh!" Rolling on the ground, he placed his right hand upon his now injured shoulder.
Hissing in pain with the contact, he jumped out of the way as another blade was aimed for his mid section.
Obviously, they weren't going to stop, not even for one single cut.
Altair was pushed by one of the others on the sidelines as he reeled forewords, another blade making contact with his chest, only skimming it.
The blood oozed out as the cut appeared slowly.
Blinking in surprise, he was thrown to the ground by one of the three, only to have a sword shoved into his face.
"Dead." He stated simply before removing the blade and sheathing it, helping the younger assassin up.
Breathing in short breaths, Altair groaned as one patted him on the left shoulder.
"That was pretty good for your first day, don't worry, you'll get better at it as we go on. Here's some advice though, even if you are harmed in the process, keep on going. Push your body to its full extent, until it can do no more." Smiling as he finished off the sentence, he retreated to the sidelines with the others.
Looking upwards, Altair watched the leader of the group with a sigh.
"Hmm. You did well, child. But tomorrow will be even harder, for now, we shall test you with something else."
Motioning his hand to a crowded street in Masyaf, Altair looked upon the barriers of the stronghold.
"We are going to take you out into the city, and we are going to test your sneaking abilities. You must not allow any of our assassins' to see you, or you will not pass. It is all right if only one spots you. This will take a lot of practice, so let us begin."
I rolled to a halt before lashing my sword out in front of me, blocking Maliks' attacks.
Breathing heavily, I dodged another swing before kneeing him in the stomach.
Malik cringed as a bolt of pain shot through his stomach, making him double over.
Smiling in victory, I didn't expect Maliks' right foot to sweep me off of my feet.
Landing on my bottom, I groaned in frustration as Malik grinned, still holding onto his stomach before whispering:
"Dead." Standing up, I growled in annoyance.
Every time that I thought that I had won, I would stop, only to have him knock me over and win, every single time.
"Okay. Again." Rain ordered from the outside rim of the fighting ring.
Nodding, we both separated, and bowed.
Rising, we both brandished our swords before moving in on each other.
Malik made a swing to the left as I made a swing to the right.
Both catching each other's swords with our gauntleted hands, we stood there, fighting for dominance.
"I… am going… to win!" I yelled furiously as I pushed as hard as I could, knocking Malik back.
As Malik reeled backwards I advanced on him and nailed him in the mouth with my right palm, making him fall to the ground.
Pointing my sword at his throat, I grinned like he had done to me.
"Dead." Malik rubbed his sore mouth and jaw, as I rubbed my aching palm.
Hearing laughter, we both turned to see Rain sprawled out on the ground, laughing really hard.
"Hey! What are you laughing at?" I asked as we cautiously approached the giggling mound that was Rain.
"Haha! You should have seen your face! Ahahahahaaaa!!" Pounding her fists on the ground, she finally got up and regained her composure.
"Serenity… Your face was just so serious… it just didn't suit you. And Malik… Ohh Malik. Did you ever have a funny face when she whacked you one!" She pointed at him and started to giggle.
Malik pouted and glowered as he rubbed his sore jaw.
"Not funny…"
Altair rushed though the streets, just barely missing a couple hundred woman carrying pots on their heads.
Heading for a ladder, he eagerly climbed up it, just avoiding one of the assassins' gazes, however.
Sighing as he slumped against the wall to catch his breath, he heard someone's footsteps approaching him from the left.
"Hello my little assassin friend, I can't believe that I have found you here."
Altairs' eyes jerked open as he saw one of the assassins standing right in front of him with his arms crossed, smirking.
"Looks like I win today. But remember though, this isn't a game for you; it's real life. And it is what you must go through to reach your goal."
Smiling as he beckoned Altair to his side, they both ventured beck into the assassin stronghold.
"Well, you weren't spotted for at least… ten minutes, I'll have that I'm quite impressed. Well done, Altair, until tomorrow," one of the assassins' finished before leaving for the night.
"Now, it is time for the hardest training of all." The leader said.
Altair winced at his hoarse words,
"What kind of training is it?"
"Mental training," he answered.
Altair could only stare in horror as they dragged him away.
Hearing about mental training through the time that he had been in the assassin stronghold, it was the training that could very well drive only the best to suicide.
They dragged him into the very bottom floor of the stronghold, and released him, throwing him into a prison cell.
It smelt of old rotting bodies, making Altair gag, and almost vomit.
Closing his eyes tightly, he didn't dare to take a look around.
"Why, Altair, take a look around you, remember, this only part of your training."
Hearing this, Altair opened his eyes only to make out a bunch of rotting corpses of soldiers lying around him.
Screaming in terror, he backed away, only to be pushed farther into the room.
His eyes wide, he attempted to stifle the smell of rotting flesh with his sleeve.
Coughing harshly, he closed his eyes, attempting to focus on something else.
Anything else.
"Altair, this is only showing you what you will be causing as an assassin, you will be killing many, even if you don't intend to. Your life will be full of blood and misfortune, but you will survive. You will probably end up killing even more then this anyways."
Shrugging it off, the older assassin grabbed into Altair from behind, and helped the now gagging assassin out of the building.
Coughing harshly, he doubled over as he started vomiting.
The taste of sour milk and whatever he had eaten in the past two days filled his mouth, as he spat out the remains.
Crouched over, Altair felt the older assassin start to pat his back, soothingly.
"Do not fret, Altair. I will take you under my wing, and you will become the ultimate assassin of your dreams."
Smiling at the thought, the other man help Altair off of the ground before they continued into the courtyard to find Serenity fighting against Rain.
I ducked as I heard Rains' blade slice the air above me, she was holding back, I could tell.
Running foreword, I caught her arm that was hung out and twisted it around her back, trying to force her to kneel on the ground before me.
But it didn't work.
She was way too tall for me to do such a thing.
Smirking, Rain twisted in the way that I had twisted her arm around and grabbed my equipped hand, crushing it.
I squeaked out in pain as I dropped the sword, hearing it clatter to the ground.
Grinning, she whispered one simple word that made me grimace with distaste.
"Dead."
I sighed in aggravation as I back off and rubbed my even sorer hand.
"Sorry Serenity, but as far as it goes, you must be trained by the best of our abilities, and that was only a small part of mine."
Her eyes gleamed in the sunlight as she said this.
"Okay… shall we finished off today with one more round?" I asked.
Malik and Rain shook their heads in sync.
"No, you need your rest, Serenity. I think that is enough for today," Malik breathed out; obviously not used to such gruel fighting in a row for a whole day.
Hearing someone draw near us, I turned to see an unhealthy looking Altair.
His head was hung low as he breathed in small breaths.
His face was so pale that it matched his robes.
His eyes were red and watering, and he had small bags under his eyes.
Looking him up and down, I saw a gash across his chest that was crusted up from the blood, and a cut on his left shoulder that was still slightly bleeding.
So that's why he had his arm slung around the other assassins' shoulders.
Running towards him, a rancid stench reached my nostrils as I cowered, holding my nose.
"What is… that smell?" I looked from Altair, to the older assassin, to Rain.
She looked grim, and was glaring daggers at the old man.
"You… brought him there on his first day of assassin training? How could you?" She sneered at the man.
Seriously, if looks could kill he would be dead. He would not just be dead; he would be chopped up into a bunch of tiny bleeding pieces.
"W-where?" I asked in unison, not knowing what to think, only earning a forbidding look from Altair.
Malik approached and clutched onto my arm harshly before dragging me off.
"Don't worry about it." I could still hear them talking.
"I was not taken there until I was three months into my assassin training, after I had made my first kill. Can you not understand what you put this child through?" She demanded furiously.
His eyes darted around before he answered.
"The master ordered me to do it. I had not wanted to, but I was ordered by Al-Mualim himself. If you do not like this, then go speak with him. This conversation is over."
He left, leaving Altair to nearly face plant on the ground. Rain ran at Altair and caught him before he had hit the ground.
"Are you alright Altair?" She asked.
He couldn't answer.
His vision swam before he fell to his knees and started dry heaving.
Rain crouched down and rubbed his back soothingly as he cried out.
I attempted to get away from Malik to go to Altairs aid, but he stopped me.
"No. Let them be."
Leading me to my room, Malik confronted me.
"The bathing area is free for the next couple of hours before the other assassins feel the need to bathe. You may go wash up if you wish."
And with that, he left with a saddened look upon his face.
Malik made his way back to the fighting grounds to meet up with Rain carrying a sick looking Altair.
"Help me take him into the bathing area. We need to get him washed up, and put him straight to bed."
Malik nearly chocked.
He had just sent Serenity in there… But they had to do this. One could only hope that wasn't out in the open.
Heaving Altairs other arm around his shoulders, Malik and Rain carried him to the bath.
I entered the bathing area to look upon two overly large pools of steaming water.
I walked over to the edge and stripped of my clothing before stepping into the steamy water.
Sighing as the water clashed with my skin and started working on the aching body, I swam around a little, enjoying my time alone in the bath.
That is until I heard the door open. I stood up abruptly and turned around only to see a flustered looking Malik carrying an almost asleep Altair.
And that is when Malik looked around only to stare straight at me.
Spluttering, I screamed as I ducked into the heated water and covered myself with my arms.
"M-Malik!" I screeched at him, making him wince as his face burnt with a blush.
Turning away sharply, Malik cried out:
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I…" He muttered something incoherent under his breath before slowly walking towards the opposite bath.
I sighed as I watched Malik go to the other bath with Altair, at least I would still have this one to myself.
Feeling somewhat violated, I called out to him.
"So… tell me again… WHY are you in here?" I demanded, my voice rising with every syllable said.
"Well, I need to help Altair bathe before he goes to bed. He is way too sick to do it himself, and we don't want him to fall asleep in the water and drown, now do we?" I shook my head as I waded over to the wall between the two pools, hiding myself behind it.
"Continue," I urged him to continue.
He cleared his throat as he glanced back, not seeing Serenity; she was obviously bathing behind the wall now.
Sighing in relief, he continued.
"I need to get him to bed right away, but he can't go to bed looking, smelling, or feeling like this. So Rain told me to take him here, and I had just remembered that I sent you in here, but there was nothing that I could do about it… it was too late."
I nodded to myself.
"It is alright Malik. But remember, you owe me. I will never let you forget this!" I screamed in an annoying voice.
Hearing Malik let out a frustrated growl, I laughed in victory.
Malik shook Altair awake, and pointed to the pool.
Altair nodded weakly before stripping and heading into the water.
Malik helped lower Altair into the water, making sure that he sat up against the edge, and didn't drown in the process.
Altair sighed in relief as he felt the hot water start massaging his aching muscles and burning joints.
The crusted blood on his chest washed away into the water as he wiped his hand across it.
Laying his head against the side of the pool, he closed his tired eyes as he allowed the water to do all the work.
Malik sighed as he sat down on a chair and looked away.
"Was… the training… that bad, Altair?"
Looking at Altair, he waited for an answer. Altair simply nodded before starting to wash himself.
Malik sighed again before leaning his head against his hand.
I looked around the room as I listened and washed up at the same time.
Altair wasn't answering, was he really that tired?
After ten minutes of silence, I finished washing up, and told them both to look away.
Swimming fast to the waters edge, I looked back to make sure that they weren't looking.
Malik sat in a chair with his hand turned away; his face was beat red.
While Altair sat waist deep in the water with his eyes closed and only his upper half showing.
I blinked as I found myself staring, and shook my head before lifting myself out of the water.
Feeling the chilling air touch my skin, I shivered before quickly getting dressed into a comfier pair of robes.
"Alright, I am done, Goodnight, to the both of you. Altair, I hope you feel better tomorrow."
I left them, and headed for my room.
Lying down in my bed, I sighed before closing my weary eyes, letting the dream world take me away.
After Altair was finished, he helped Altair out, and fetched Altair a different pair of robes for him to wear, while throwing the other pair to the maids.
Once Altair was dressed and ready, Malik helped lead him into his room, and onto his bed.
As he lay Altair down on his bed, Altair was basically already asleep.
Smiling in respite, Malik covered Altair up with his blankets before bidding a quiet goodnight and leaving him to sleep.
Entering his own room, he fell to bed only to fall asleep instantly.
Here's to another day of hard work.
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Rawr! My Microsoft word is being very knit-picky today!
More reviews, more chapters.
Have a great day! . I need a life.
-xXxSilentxXxAssassinxXx