Chapter 10

A First Glimpse at a Future Relationship?

"You have done well, Altair, and I am confident that this is but the first of many successes."

Altair stood proud and tall in front of Al Mualim; a bit too tall from Morgan's view from the stairs. She wasn't allowed to see Al until she was called upon. Bother her and Altair were at a loss for what the master would do with her. While Altair secretly wanted to jump to the discussion about getting rid of her, there where more pressing matters that had to be dealt with-like getting praised for doing a good job. Hey, he knew he had to change his ways and be humble, but getting a bit of praise never really hurt someone.

"Tamir spoke as if he knew you well," He said, "He implied my work had a large meaning."

What's larger than saving the Holy Lands from Templars? Morgan scoffed, leaning against the newel post of the stairs. Her chin was resting against the stone egg design on top. "Significance does not come from a single act, but from the context of which it is preformed," Al replied, leaning forward in his seat and closing his book, "The consequence is born of it."

"Then is there more I need to know?" The younger man questioned.

"Altair, your greatest failure was born of knowing too much. If I choose to withhold information, it is only to ensure that you do not make the same mistake a second time."

He nodded, "I see."

"No you don't!" Al shouted, making both Morgan and Altair jump, "And it will remain this way until you've learned your lesson." He checked himself for a second, before standing up and slowly stepping to the pigeon cage, "Still, you have preformed competently, and, as such, I restore a rank and will return a piece of your equipment."

Altair bowed, wathing two birds fly out the window, "Thank you, Master."

"Now," The elderly man sat back down, reclining back as he did, "We have one thing left to discuss." He reached over and plucked a piece of parchment out from a book. "I believe you have a new 'accomplice', or so I have been told."

Altair, despite himself, grunted and rolled his eyes, "Excuse me, Master, but a nuisance is more like it."

Al Mualim looked towards Morgan, smiling as she glared at the Assassin's back. "Oh?"

"She's loud, obnoxious, defiant, stuck up!" He continued on, either forgetting about the girl he was talking about actually being there or simply not caring, "When I went to assassinate Tamir, she ruined my cover, drawing attention to herself and-"

"Hey!" She yelled from the stairs. Both men turned to look at her, on with an amused grin, the other with a glare, darker than ever before had been fathomed in the Holy Lands. "You weren't going to save the poor guy! I even told you about it, but you were to busy with worrying about what you were doing to-"

"What would you have had me do?!" He snapped back, "Jump in and get us killed?!"

"Saving the guy would have been nice!"

"And then what!? Toss you in so the guards could have a go at you?" He stopped and seemed to contemplate if that what he should have done.

"Don't even think about it, you son of a-"

"Enough!" Al Mualim shouted, though he couldn't hide the smile itching at the side of his lips.

"You see what I mean?" Altair questioned, turning to his master, "She always contradicts me!"

"You sound like a whiny kid," Morgan grumbled, still over by the stairs.

The insult went unacknowledged to both men (either that, or she actually said something without Altair hearing it). Instead, Al Mualim sighed, "I have to think about this matter for a while longer." He motioned for one of the garden maidens to step up. "Show Morgan to the room next to Altair's. Make sure she is settled in and is comfortable."

The young woman bowed, "Yes, Master." She turned and grabbed Morgan's arm.

"Hey, wait," She jumped, "Can't I at least speak my part!? Hey!!!"

If any other complaints were said, they weren't heard.

Al Mualim chuckled and shook his head, "I see what you mean by 'loud'..."

Altair sighed, "Master, I'm sure the Rafek wrote about her connection to the Templars."

"I've read about your suspicion, Altair, concerning her and the Priory of Sion." He stood up and walked to the window, "Do you know what it is the Priory protect, Altair?"

Altair was a bit taken aback by the question. He had always been told it wasn't his concern what they did, just make sure they didn't last long to continue doing it. "...no?" He continued to think about it, hoping that his master would tell him.

Al Mualim shook his head, "But you do know that they are the enemy, correct?"

"Yes." He nodded, "Master, do you think that she could be a Templar?"

"I think your dislike towards her made you jump to conclusions. You said she comes from a distant time; we do not understand the ways of her world. But we must also proceed with caution."

Altair didn't like the way this conversation was going, "So...what do you plan on doing?"

He shook his head again, "Do not worry about it any longer. Go, rest and prepare to leave."

Altair nodded and went to pick up his things. "Oh, and before you go..." He looked up at Al Mualim who was now looking at him as well, "Tonight, take Morgan and teach her how to defend herself. If she has a tongue like you say, she'll need to handle a sword in order to stay alive."

What did I do to deserve this?! She questioned, holding the short sword in her hand. Altair stood on the other side of the training ring, talking to some of the men about what they should start her out with first. What happened to just letting her hide behind Altair? Why did that change?She stared at the small, curved sword in her hand; she was so nervous. She had seen how brutal Altair could be when it came to helping that one guy train his own students. She really didn't feel like getting kicked or punched; hell, she couldn't deal with it when it was her little sister's stupid persona, TigerLilly, who also happened to be a boy tiger. God, she hated him...

"Okay," Altair spoke up, turning from some of them men who were laughing to themselves. "We're going to start you off with some basic moves."

"Uh, right," She stood up straight.

"And I'm not going to go easy on you," He added, "The Templars won't care that you're a woman, they'll attack you all the same." He got into a fighting position, "Now, get ready."

Morgan jumped and held the blade out in front of her with two hands, flinched back, and closed her eyes, tightly. Some of the men laughed, but Altair just sighed and walked over to her. She opened one of her eyes and saw Altair staring at her like she had just grown another head. "What are you doing?" He questioned.

"Uhm..." She started to twist her wrists, "Doin' my warm-up exercises... yeah, gotta work those wrists..."

One of the the men turned to his buddy and laughed, "I like her..."

"No, no, not like that." He stood behind her and grabbed her wrists. "If you do that, you'll be killed before I could even see it happen."

She let him move her arms and he gently kicked her legs apart. She turned and looked at him over her shoulders. He looked back and for a split second, everything was second for her. Okay, this is odd, She thought to herself. Her lungs closed slightly and she saw a certain look on his face, as well. The moment probably didn't last as long as it felt, but he soon looked away and cleared his throat. "Now, stay like that..."

Finally realizing what he had done, she looked at her new position. It was awkward for her, to say the least. She looked back up at him, not that he had moved far. He stood next to her now, getting into the same position as she was in, "Now, when moving with the short sword..."

"Altair, please..." She whined, "We've been at this for hours!"

Altair turned from the moon and looked at Morgan, sitting on the ground, the sword next to her. He sighed and shook his head, "Not that long..." He answered.

"Not that long!?" She yelled back, "It's been like 5 hours!!"

"Only 2." He smirked, looking around the training yard. No one else was there. They had all gotten bored with the girl actually catching on and left to get some rest.

She pushed back her hair, some of the black strands fell right back into place. He spun a throwing knife around on his finger, looking back at the moon which had begun to rise. "I'm so tired..." She sighed, closing her eyes. He watches as she rested her head on the banister of the ring.

Altair didn't say anything back; he had been thinking about what had happened earlier. The feeling he had when he looked at her; it wasn't new to him, but it also wasn't familiar. Shaking his head, he decided to forget about it. It had been a long time since he had been that close to a woman. Yes, that was it, it was just the thrill of being that close to a woman again. It had absolutely nothing to do with Morgan at all. Besides, she wasn't attractive or anything: She was short, her eyes were too blue, her hair was always unkempt, her skin was too pale. He smiled, proud at himself for seeing that many faults in her.

Now, back to his old self, he stepped forward and grabbed her arm, helping her stand up. "Fine," He waited until she stood up right, before letting go of her, "You've learned enough to be able to defend yourself."

She smiled, using her free hand to brush off her pants, "I've always caught on quick to things."

He looked at her, "Like what?"

"What do you mean?"

"You just don't seem the capable type," He shrugged.

She stared at him, "What is that supposed to mean?"

He started to walk away, "I don't know, you just don't seem like the type who is able to do much besides get yourself into trouble."

She glared at him, "Hey, for your information, I'm a very capable person!"

He slowed down so she would watch with him, "Is that so?"

"Yeah!" She handed him the short sword, which he slipped back into it's holster. "I can cook, I played flute when I was middle school, I can draw and write, and sing, and-"

"Sing?" He laughed, "You, sing?"

She glared at him even more, "Yes! I can sing!"

"So can I, but that doesn't mean I can sing well!" He still smirked at her as they entered the living area of the fortress.

"Hey, I was in choir when I quit band." She said, crossing her arms.

He shook his head, "I'll believe it when I hear it." He stopped and pointed down the hallway, "Women bathe in that area."

She started to say something, however Altair had already turned and walked down the opposite hallway. She sighed and started down the hallway he had pointed out, mumbling about how she could sing.

The men's bath and the women's bath weren't all that far from each other. The only difference was that the men's bath almost always had someone there. Altair sat by himself, cleaning himself off. The men laughed and joked and talked about politics and things along those lines, things that didn't interest Altair. He was to busy thinking about his next assignments. The idea of Morgan not going with him was just such a joy that he couldn't help but smile. But then he thought about how much she was taking up his thoughts. This isn't good... He thought, rubbing his face.

"Hey, you here that?" One of the other men questioned.

Altair looked up, over at the other men. "Yeah, sounds like singing..." Someone else answered.

The assassin tensed, "Oh, no..." He mumbled softly to himself.

The others rose themselves from the water and went to see where the singing was coming from. It couldn't be her... I can't be her...

"I wonder who it is," One said.

"Whoever it is," The other one snickered, "I'm sure there's a pretty face to match up with the pretty voice." Altair quickly threw on his pants and followed the men, praying that it wasn't Morgan.

The wall that cut off the baths was taller than a single man could have ever even hope to jump. So, to see who it was, some of the men climbed onto each other to catch a glimpse. Altair tried to protest, but he was hushed by some of the men. "What do you see?" One of the men in the middle questioned.

The one of top smirked, "Well, well, well," He looked down at Altair, "It's your little friend!"

"What?" He asked, flatly, glaring at him.

"It's that girl you were helping today in the training ring." He answered. "Come see if you don't believe me."

Altair groaned and grabbed a couple of stools and stood on top of them. Just to see, he reminded himself, I'm not spying or anything.

He stretched to peer over the top of the wall. His eyes widened at the sight of Morgan's bare back towards them, waist high in the water. She was doing something with her hair, which was blacker now that it was wet. It was true, the sound was coming from her; she had been right: she could sing.

"Come little children, I'll take thee away

Into a land of enchantment.

Come little children,

The time's come to play

Here in my Garden of Shadows.

Follow sweet children, I'll show thee the way

Through all the pain and the sorrows.

Weep not, poor children,

For life is this way:

Murdering beauty and passions.

Hush now, dear children, it must be this way.

To weary of life and deceptions.

Rest now my children,

For soon we'll away,

Into the calm and the quiet.

Come little children, I'll take thee away,

Into a land of enchantment.

Come little children,

The time's come to play

Here in my Garden of Shadows."

"Get down!" Altair yelled, tackling the tower of men next to him.

If the crash made Morgan jump, he could hear no sound of it over the sounds of groaning and complaints from the men around him. Altair sighed, This is defiantly not good...

A/N: Well, there you have it. My crappy addition to the story. I can't stand not having Microsoft Word in my computer, I feel like I'm making so many mistakes.

The song, if you were wondering, is called "Come Little Children" is from the movie Hocus Pocus (one of the best movies of all time), but they just use one verse from the original poem it's based on (the poem by Brock Walsh). I used Katethegreat19's version, however, as the basis for Morgan's song. I think I'm going to have Morgan sound like Katie as well.

.com/watch?v=MKlsUrfbiE0

Since I didn't have a Halloween edition in for the story because Big Poppy (aka, my father) decided to not let me use the computer until this past Monday, I decided to pay tribute to the best holiday of all time by using this song. Even though it's belated: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

And, for those of you who are hoping that this story become AltMorg, I'm giving you what you want... for now. I'm not good at romance, since I seem to always jump into the romance part of it (the one thing I hate doing but feel like I did here). If you have any advice, I'll gladly take it. Or if you want to see something happen, I'll do it. Like I said, Lovey-dovey crap just ain't my thing.