Wake Up
They were running across the rooftops of Jerusalem, trying their absolute hardest to reach the bureau. Why were they running again? Hadn't she just fallen asleep mere moments ago? And why was she in robes similar to the man who plagued her dreams? Why were her breasts bound? Was it so they wouldn't notice she was a woman? She was so confused! She could hear shouting and screaming coming from behind her and her instincts automatically seemed to kick in; her body immediately began to pick up the pace, the thigh high leather boots that she was wearing were making quiet crunching sounds as she stepped on the tiny pebbles on the roofs. She could see the man in front of her, his flowing white robes were calling out to her, saying that if she didn't move faster she would surely be killed! The high sun was beginning to beat down on her covered body; even though barely any of her skin showed, the cloth did absolutely nothing to cool her body down! It was a thick heavy wool material, more suited for slowing down jabbing knives and swords than keeping her body cool. But it appeared as if the man in front of her was having no issues with the sun, the heat, or the people chasing after them. This all seemed routine for him, like he had been chased so many times that he could just simply go through the motions and not even think of them. He knew where all the bureaus were in all the cities, knew them by heart, knew all their masters, but it seemed as if she knew nothing. If she were to get separated from him, she would be lost and probably be killed by the shouting men behind her. Keeping her sharp green eyes focused on the running man, she took in a deep breath and ordered her tired limbs to push further and faster. It would be all over soon, she muttered; soon they would be in the cool shade of the bureau, listening to the master and man argued like an old married couple while she rested and prepared for whatever was thrown at her next. With that thought in mind, she ran up the wall of a smaller building in front of her, the worn leather of her fingerless gloves cracking as she gripped the edge of it and pulled herself off and quickly jumped back on the other side, still running on the sun baked roofs. She could see a rooftop garden not too far away and she could tell that the man in front of her could see it too; it meant that it was a place for them to hide and hope that the guards wouldn't shove their swords into their safe haven. And even if they did manage to stab her or the man she was following, they would be quiet, ignoring the sting of the cut and the warm, thick liquid leaking out.
She watched closely as the man hopped quietly into the garden and she tried her best to do the same, but she couldn't help but let out a small noise of pain as she felt her ankle twist as she jumped into the shaded area. She landed less than gracefully inside, ignoring the way the wood and hay dug into her skin; all she could feel was the sheer pain radiating from her ankle. She had definitely twisted it and she didn't know how long it would be until she could walk again. For some reason, she could feel disappointment well up in her chest. Was she disappointed because she had failed to do something as simple as jumping into a garden? Or was it the fact that she wouldn't be able to run with the man she had been following? He didn't mean anything to her, but for some reason, her mind was screaming at her to not disappoint him; that if she disappointed him she would be nothing but a disgrace. And that was exactly what she was feeling. With her throbbing ankle, she hid as silently as she could, even holding her breath in while the guards were looking around the garden, wondering where the two of them had disappeared to. Her green eyes drifted over to where the man was sitting calmly and wondered how he could be so cool in a situation such as this. He was just sitting there and basically twiddling his thumbs! Wasn't he the least bit concerned about the men outside the small hideout? She was about to open her mouth, but his hand suddenly came flying towards her lips, practically smacking them shut and he gave her a glare and she immediately knew what he meant by it: be quiet or I'm leaving you here to rot. Giving a quick nod, she could feel her short hair sticking to her forehead, the perspiration matting it down and she knew once she took the hood off that it would fly in a million different directions. But something was bothering her! When had she gotten her hair cut? The last time she remembered seeing her hair it nearly reached her ass! Was it supposed to be cut short, like how her breasts were bound, so people would assume that she was a boy? She could tell that there was something nagging in the back of her mind, telling her that she knew all the details, all the secrets, but she couldn't figure them out on her own. She needed help and the one thing her subconscious kept yelling at her was that the man in the flowing white robes and hood covered head was the only one who could do that.
Listening closely, her ears caught the sounds of the men's footsteps slowly disappearing; it seemed as if they had finally given up on their search for them and were starting to head back to their original post. The man's rough, calloused hand moved away from her chapped lips and she finally sucked in a full breath. Running her tongue over her dry lips, she could still taste the leather that covered his hands, just like hers and as weird as it was, she didn't mind the taste of it. It was salty, but musky at the same time. Shaking her head slightly, she pulled off her hood and ran her fingers through her short hair, slightly annoyed that all of her hair was gone. A soft sigh released from her lips and she closed her bright green eyes. When was the last time she had gotten any real sleep? She felt as if she had been up for days, fighting and running and doing who knows what else! She cracked open her eyes for a brief second and caught a glimpse of the man in front of her, the man she knew attacked her during the day and night. He looked the same, really; she had yet to really see what he looked like underneath his hood, but her mind, yet again, told her that she knew what he looked like! That she knew what all of his facial features were and how long and soft his hair was, how rough his cheeks could be, how muscular he was underneath the robes. Her cheeks began to redden as her thoughts started to become a little more than body physique descriptions and she tried desperately to wipe them from her mind! Too much information was being tossed at her at once and she needed time to sit down and think! Think everything through! Tearing her eyes away before things could go from bad to worse, she looked down and tried her best to figure out how badly injured her ankle was. She brushed her fingers lightly over the leather of her boot and she had to bit her lip to keep in the pained scream that was stuck in her throat. It hurt like hell. And she wanted something to be done to it right now!
"What's wrong with your ankle?" the man before he spoke suddenly, his voice loud within the silence. Green clashed with brown and suddenly she felt very small; this man meant something to her. Something strong and powerful and she could tell that no matter what she did, the connection wouldn't go away. But the voice in her head repeated over and over that she was going to be hurt, she was going to be betrayed and that there was nothing she could do about it. She would just have to live with her pain and continue on following this man wherever he went because no matter what his faults were she couldn't abandon him. She could hate him for the rest of her life and she would still follow him.
"Answer me, novice!" his voice brought her back again. It sounded angry this time. Probably because she hadn't answered him immediately after he had asked her.
"I-It hurts quite a bit. I think…I think I might have broken it or twisted it…or something." She stuttered out, trying to block the now overwhelming pain from her mind. She had received far worse injuries than just a twisted ankle; she could feel the scars that twisted across her skin like an intricate tattoo. His gloved hands began to swim into her vision and she quickly jerked back her injured leg, ignoring the needles of agony that shot up her entire leg. She could see that he was only trying to figure out what was wrong with her, but she didn't want to feel the red hot touch of someone's hand on her injury; there was only one person in the world she trusted with her injuries and she would just have to wait patiently until they arrived.
A sigh similar to the one she had given earlier escaped his scarred and equally, if not more, chapped lips. He seemed frustrated that he couldn't help her with her ankle and she could tell that he was thinking about how picky she was when it came to the person who treated her injuries and how he would have to endure the many "novice" insults that were bound to come just for her sake and safety. Even though she was slightly annoyed with the way his eyes were showing his disagreement on where they needed to go, she appreciated his gesture of at least attempting to make her feel safe. "Can we please go see Master Malik? I know you two don't…get along very well, but you know how I am! You know he is the only one I allow to touch me when I'm hurting." She whispered softly, trying her best to sound confident. The words slipped easily out of her mouth and she was slightly confused at the words themselves. Ignoring the feeling in her gut, she watched silently as the man gave a quick nod and peaked outside the curtains of the garden, his head turning to make sure that there weren't any guards out. And if there were, they sure weren't going to be alive much longer.
"It's safe to go out now. Just grab onto my arm and I'll help you down." The man grasped her hand before she could respond and she tried to put as much of her weight as possible on her good leg as he pulled her up. She quickly eased onto her non injured leg, but when she went to move her ankle just the tiniest bit a small whimper escaped her mouth and she tried her hardest to cover it up. Guiding her out of their hiding place, the man walked slowly and patiently across the sun baked roof and over to a ledge. She could see that he expected her to jump off of the high ledge and automatically her stomach did a flip; she hated heights with a burning passion and knowing that she was about to jump off a roof and the only safety net she had was cart full of hay didn't help her feelings dwindle. Her gaze shifted over to the man's and she could see the smirk that played on his lips. He knew that she was scared! Terrified to do this jump by herself!
"Today is the day you get to perform your first Leap of Faith, novice. Normally we would wait until we officially made you a master assassin, but I would like to be able to see you perform it once. Being an assassin doesn't exactly secure our chances of living to see the future and I want to see my novice perform a leap." The man explained, his voice laced with a tinge of sadness. She didn't want to perform a leap though! Memories played through of the man leaping gracefully off the building and landing almost silently in the hay and she could feel the jealousy and terror that ran through her body when she watched him fall, wishing she could do the same, but at the same time too scared to even think of the possibility.
As if he could sense her hesitancy, the man wrapped his strong arm around her waist and helped her hobble closer to the edge. His eyes once again held frustration, but gentle understanding was in there too. Not as apparent, but it was definitely there. "Fine. Seeing as how this is your first leap, and I remember you mentioning something about heights at some point during our early days of training, I'll help you perform you're very first one. Now, the trick with leaping is…" The man's voice droned on and on about all the little technical aspects of plummeting off the side of a building and she couldn't help but wonder if it was inflating his ego at all, but she didn't mind listening to him talk; it has a soothing quality to it that she enjoyed listening to. Closing her eyes, she rested her head on her shoulder and let herself take a deep breath in and out, feeling the slight wind blow at her hood and what little hair she had left. It felt nice to be outside and not cooped up inside of a building all day long. The air was fresher, you could feel the actual wind on your face, and the sun felt amazing on her tanned skin.
"Take a Leap of Faith with me, Arianna, and I can show you everything that has to do with being an assassin."
At the sound of her name, she felt herself beginning to fall, but there weren't any strong arms around her as promised. Instead she was falling face first into a pile of hay and the only reaction she could get out of her frozen body was to shield her face with her arms and pray that she wouldn't die. This was why she didn't like heights! This is why she wanted someone to be there with her when she took her leap she wanted someone to be there! With her eyes still closed, she waited for impact, waited for the hay to cut through her leather bracers and thick fabric and into her skin, waiting to hear the sickening crack of her bones as she hit the cart and went through the ground. She was sure she was going to break the cart; while she wasn't a heavy girl, she wasn't exactly the skinniest and at the rate she was falling, she was sure to break through the wood and hit the hard ground below.
But nothing came. How long had she been falling for? She knew it had been for awhile, but she would have hit something by now! Opening her eyes for a second, she was surprised to find herself not in Jerusalem, but in a bedroom. A very modern, very ordinary bedroom. Was it supposed to be her room? How was it that she could be in a bedroom, in an incredibly soft bed, when she had been plummeting to her death? Green eyes scanned the room quickly, her foggy brain wasn't helping her much and she took in her surroundings. She was in her bedroom at her mother's house, in her mother's apartment, in New York City, which was in the United States. She was far away from Jerusalem, away from the warm sun, away from weather beaten rooftops, from cranky bureau leaders, and certainly away from the man who had lied to her about taking a leap with her. His sun kissed features flashed before her eyes and she had to blink a couple of times in order to remain focused in the present and not in the past she had currently been in.
Giving a quiet groan, Arianna moved her arms slowly and noticed that they were spread out like eagle wings in flight, just like the man had said to spread her arms as she jumped. Perhaps she had done the leap correctly after all. The next thing the teen noticed was how sore her legs were; she felt as if she had run several miles and didn't stop for a single break! But the worst was yet to come. The worst pain was when she tried to move her ankle. Pain flared up so intensely that she had to bite her lip once again and in the same place as she had earlier in order to keep herself from screaming. The last thing she needed was to wake up her mom or her baby sister. She was sure that her mom's boyfriend would just shrug her off if she ended up screaming, deciding that it was her mother's job to take care of her and he was only there part time. Trying her best to ignore everything else, Arianna kept her ankle as stable as it could be and sat up in her bed, pushing off the fluffy blue comforter and pink sheets away from her legs and let out groan; her ankle was swollen at least twice its regular size and was beginning to turn a nasty shade of yellow and purple. It was disgusting to look at and she knew that there was absolutely no way she could hide it from her mom! She couldn't even move without it hurting and as soon as she limped into the kitchen, her mom would automatically take her to the doctor without even asking her what had happened or how she did it. Her mom freaked out over every little injury that she and her younger sister received, even if it was just a slight cut or scrap.
Her green eyes quickly looked over at her clock and a sigh released from her mouth; it was still early and she could conceal her injury for a little longer than she had originally planned. For now, Arianna could try to pretend that her ankle didn't hurt and she could concentrate on her dream. Her dream. The entire cause of why her leg was injured, why she had woken up in a spread eagle position, why she had woken up in a cold sweat. She recognized the man in her dream; it was obviously Altair. She would never, ever forget his face, but what was up with those thoughts running through her head? She hated Altair! He had turned her pretty normal life completely upside down and now she was running across rooftops with him in freaking Jerusalem! But who was that other person she had been thinking of after she had injured herself? The most she could remember was that he was the master of the bureau in the ancient city. Was he important to her? Was he important to Altair? When she had said the man's name, sadness seemed to filter through his eyes, but it passed so quickly that she had barely seen it. Sighing again, this time out of frustration, Arianna laid back down, forgetting temporarily of the pain radiating out of her leg, and closed her eyes. Freaky dreams or not, she had to get some sleep and if that meant she was going to get hurt in the process then she would just have to remember to pick up some bandages and probably keep her doctor's number on her speed dial.