Chapter 6
Searching for Clues
The market streets of Damascus were bustling as normal with many people, both men and women. Though they weren't as nicely dressed as Morgan thought they would be, she admired their robes. The reds, yellows, greens, and blues made her smile in wonder and admiration. Altair noticed this as he sat eating some bread on a bench with her. She had refused the bread, saying she wasn't hungry and that she had something to eat before she had arrived there.
Altair took another bite in his bread and looked around. Thankfully, they weren't staring at him, but they were staring. He turned to the girl and saw that they were all staring at her. His eyes widened a bit as he debated on what to do.
"Can you eat that any slower!?" Morgan groaned, lying back on the wall, her arms behind her head.
He leaned over and clapped his hands together, making the bread crumbs fall on her jeans. "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
"We need to find more information…" He said, standing up, brushing the crumbs from his robes.
"Well yeah…" She smirked, "More information… Do you know how to get in yet?"
He sat there for a minute, "No… I don't know, yet, but I will…"
"Uh-huh… sure you will…" She laughed, rolling her eyes and watched a little chick walk past her.
She picked it up in her hands has he continued, "And I suppose you know!?"
"Ma-a-a-aybe…" She smiled, using a finger to stroke the chirping chicks head.
He rolled his eyes, "You know you can be so annoying! If you know anything about my mission then tell-"
"Our mission!" She yelled, jumping up, "Ours not Yours!!"
"Shut up! You want to draw more attention to yourself?" He snapped.
She faltered back a bit and scrunched her shoulders closer to her neck. She looked away, slightly angry since her eyebrows were turned down in a glare. Her blue eyes trailed back to him, "So what? What do you want me to do?"
"One:…" He said, holding a finger up in her face, "Don't shout all the time… 2:… Listen to what I say. It embarrasses us if you are always contradicting me…"
"What do you mean 'us'? You're the one looking like a dumb-?"
"And three: Stop swearing. Proper women don't swear and people will think little of you…"
She gave him a look of hatred and put the chick down on one of the cages with its mother, "Do I really seem like the kind of person who gives a damn about what people think of me, huh?"
Altair rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm, pulling her to a ladder and shoving her onto it, "Well you should! It will compromise the brotherhood if you're constantly yelling, arguing with me, and swearing!"
She sighed and made her way up, Altair following her. "Well, I guess you have a point there, Dress boy…"
"It's not a dress!" He yelled at her, "Oh, why I haven't killed you is beyond me…"
"Cause it would be mean to kill me…" She smiled to him. She walked on a plank to the other roof.
Altair simply jumped over the gap, "Do I really seem like the kind of person who gives a damn about what people think of me, huh?" He quoted her.
She glared at him, "Douche bag…" She mumbled, crossing her arms and looking away.
"I think I saw some suspicious people over there…" Altair pointed out.
She gulped at the roofs they would have to cross. She spotted some planks connecting them together, but she would have to jump for some. Like the next one up. Altair prepared to grab her sweatshirt, but she stopped him. "I got this…"
"If you fall I'm not saving you…" He said, crossing his arms and leaning against some baskets.
She stepped back to the other ledge and stopped. She sighed and tried to will herself to stop shaking. It wasn't that far down, but she still didn't want to go down. She heard him groan, aggravated. She breathed out and tried to calm down. Without thinking much about it, she started running. Using mostly her calves, she launched herself over the ledge, the gap and eventually felt ground under her feet again. Her heart was thumping in her chest and heard a buzzing in her ears.
Did… Did I make it? She asked herself and opened her eyes.
She saw a tree along with 2 people sitting on benches staring at her. The flowers around her were enough to tell her that she had gone the wrong way and instead jumped to the wrong side. Altair had pointed the wrong way, purposely no doubt, and she had jumped into one of the gardens. It then occurred to her that the buzzing was Altair's laughter above her on the ledge of the other wall.
Growling, she stood up only to fall back down from the pain in her legs.
Jumping from high buildings equals extreme pain in legs… She thought bitterly, rubbing her sore feet. Altair sat, chuckling, "And you call me the dumb-"
"Do you understand?"
"AH!" Morgan stopped him, shoving a finger in his face, "It's not polite for women to swear, Altair!"
"Yes, I understand…"
"Hey! Listen here you little snot!!"
"…I am to deliver the letter to your merchant friend…"
Altair stopped mid yell and turned to look at two people talking in the market. He moved a little closer, leaving a confused Morgan behind. He stood behind a pillar, out of sight and to Morgan it looked like he was resting up a bit. Wow… She thought, raising an eyebrow. The guy's one hell of an actor, I'll give him that…
"And do you know who to see?" A fatter man said, giving the smaller black man a stern look.
"The same man as always…" He answered quickly. Altair motion Morgan forward and she stared at him. He gave her another look of hatred and she groaned, sluggishly walking forward.
"Do not think to betray my presence in the city. We have many eyes, many ears."
She had shoved her hands in her pockets, "What!?" She hissed, quietly so not to be heard.
"And many arms, yes. Good for punishing those who say too much. I know this well, you have my word…"
Morgan smiled softly to the black guy and fatty. She looked back to Altair and nodded, "Oh, I get it…"
"Good, then be quick about it. Time is short."
Altair waited until he saw the Fat man walk past him. He turned around and watched the other man leave. He walked swiftly behind him, trying not to make himself known. Morgan traveled not far behind and stopped sometimes at the vendors to take a look at what he was screaming about. Reaching out, he reached out and dipped his hands into the smaller man's pack on his back. He pulled out all the papers he had and turned around, discreetly putting them in his own.
Walking back over to Morgan who was examining a stone necklace, he nudged her side, "Come on. We're done here…"
She raised an eyebrow and followed him, "That was quick…"
"To whom it may concern…" Morgan read aloud and then tossed it, "Nope, not it…"
"List of things… Nope…" Altair set it down in a pile next to him.
"Dear provider…" She let her eyes skim over it, "Whoa!" She said grabbing Altair's chest.
"Ow! What?" He growled, shoving her arm away from him.
"I found it…" She smiled, waving the letter around between two fingers.
"What does it say!?" Altair said, trying to grab it, but she pulled away.
"Basically that Tamir is preparing a large shipment of armory…" She said, laughing a bit.
He nodded and sat back, "So, he'll probably be working… This is a good time to strike…"
"Okay, first though, you got to find out where… do you even know?" She asked, forgetting where it was. She wasn't normally allowed to play the game and was forced to wait about 3 or 4 weeks in between playing periods.
"I'm not sure…" He mumbled, taking the paper and reading it over. "We need to find out though…" He looked up at the setting sun, "Tomorrow it seems though…"
She followed his eyes and nodded, "Yeah…" She bit her lip, "Do you know where we can stay?"
"The Assassin's Bureau…" He said, folding up the paper and putting it in his pack. "We can stay there..."
"Will the Rafek be there?" She asked standing up and stretching.
"No, why?"
"'Cause I'm a bit worried that you'll suffocate me in my sleep…"
Altair smirked, "Well, I wasn't thinking about it before, but that gives me an idea…"
Her mouth fell open as she watched him get up and walk away. Sighing, she let her shoulders fall and reluctantly followed him.
With the Rafek gone, and it being night time, Morgan didn't feel very safe. She was able to get the spot near the entrance, on the pillows and Altair made a bed on one of the tables in the room.
She stared up at the moon shining on her face. It was pretty warm outside and she enjoyed the gentle breeze that passed by every so often. She turned her head slightly and looked through to see Altair fast asleep. She thought she heard him say something every once in a while, but couldn't understand it so dismissed it as something of her imagination.
She sighed softly and rolled on her side and played with the pillow's gold embroidery. Okay, let's go over what's happened today… She thought to herself. I was playing a game I know I shouldn't have been playing at 3 o'clock. 3 o'clock is the devil's hour; the most unholy time of day. Why wasn't I asleep…? Oh yeah, I wasn't tired…
Okay, so I put the game in, ate my late night snack- which was yummy. When I went to play the game, it had already started. Weird thing number one!
Weird thing number 2! The buzzer to the oven's timer went off at 2:58 or something when no one set it. When I tried to shut it off, it just kept going. Parental units upstairs… NOTHING! They didn't shout at me or anything! Weird thing number 3!
When the fucking annoying buzzing stopped, the TV got louder and I could hear the people walking around. That was at 3 o'clock. When I went to play the game, Altair- fucking douche bag- wasn't there doing his usual poses and such. I can call that weird thing number 4.
When I tried to shut of the console, no avail and I was brought back to Damascus. Weird thing number 5…
The TV turned on it's own to show the crowd turning around and stopping, looking at something, which was probably Sir Douche Bag A Lot in there… Weird thing Number 6…
The buzzer went off again and the time hadn't changed at all. Weird thing number 7 and 8…
Then I ended up here… How pleasant…
Rolling onto her back she pulled out her head phones, putting the buds in her ears. "You are the one" by Shiny Toy Guns rang in her ears as she slipped into sleep.