Age 20:

The first time Altaïr used Eagle Vision was when he was fifteen. He had been talking to Malik after their first shadow mission, when his vision suddenly turned dark, accept for Malik, who was sitting before him, who had turned bright blue.

Altaïr had panicked and mumbled a quick, feeble apology before running off. He had sat in his room, freaked out, until it faded away. It had happened on and off over the years, whether he was at Masyaf or elsewhere, and eventually Altaïr dubbed it "Eagle Vision." He didn't tell anyone about it, for fear of the unknown and the thought of being mad.

It was times like these that Altaïr would practice turning it on and off. By now he could do it almost at will. He sat perched on a wooden beam on a tower, overlooking the village. Two other beams stretched out to his left, each with a pile of hay beneath it. As Altaïr surveyed the village, his legs dangling into nothingness, he willed his Eagle Vision to come on.

In the village below, the tiny dots of blue, gray, and white that were people bustled about on their daily business. Altaïr's golden eyes swept around, the various piles of hay both below and in the village glowing a faint golden color. Altaïr held his left hand up to his face, shining blue, a gap where his ring finger used to be.

Suddenly, feeling a prickle on the back of his neck, Altaïr whipped around to see a figure shining in blue with his arms crossed over his chest. Altaïr raised an eyebrow at him, concentrating and switching his Eagle Vision off.

"What are you doing?" Malik asked, the blue remains of the Eagle Vision around him hovering for a moment before fading away.

"Practicing." Altaïr said shortly.

"Practicing?" Malik asked disbelievingly, "Practicing what?"

"Nothing." said Altaïr. Malik waited, and Altaïr continued, "I won't bother to try and explain it to you. You won't get it."

Malik paused, and, looking at him, Altaïr could tell that he was actually curious. "Try me."

Altaïr hesitated. "It's just something I can do. I can... sort of just tell what someone's attitude is like, if that makes any sense."

"No, it doesn't." said Malik gruffly.

"People seem to... glow. It's hard to explain." said Altaïr, turning away from Malik to face the village again, "Enemies are red. Allies and friends are blue. Targets are yellow. People with information are white. Innocents are gray. Everyone has a color."

"And what's my color?" asked Malik, still sounding doubtful.

Altaïr paused, realizing that this was the first actual conversation they've had in ages. Altaïr wondered how that had happened. They hadn't had a fight or anything, but they sort of just... grew apart, as a lot of childhood friends ended up doing. It made Altaïr feel sort of sad, but it also made him want to try to rekindle their relationship.

"You're blue, of course." Altaïr said, looking back at him.

Malik raised an eyebrow and the corner of his mouth in a sort-of smirk. "So I'm a friend, then?"

"Why wouldn't you be?" said Altaïr, glancing back at Malik. One look on his face told Altaïr that Malik was thinking the same things as he.

Both men looked like they wanted to say something more, and Altaïr stood up at the edge of the wooden beam, facing Malik, who shuffled his feet awkwardly. Each seemed to be waiting for the other to speak.

Altaïr, unusually, decided to be the one to break the silence. "Did you come up here to tell me something?"

"Yes, actually." Malik admitted, "Al Mualim wanted to see you."

Altaïr nodded and turned back towards the edge of the beam and looked out. For what seemed like the first time since Malik's fourteenth birthday, his face broke into a wide grin as he spread his arms wide and allowed himself to fall. As always, there was that brief feeling of exhilarating freedom as the wind whipped off his hood and ran its fingers through his hair. He twisted his body and landed on his back in the hay.

He laid there for another moment longer before standing up and brushing off the hay and heading off back to the fortress.

Sorry, once again, for such a short chapter.

Just a bit of an interesting fact I noticed while playing the game, in Solomon's Temple at the very beginning, Kadar and Malik shine blue when using Eagle Vision. Then when you're seeing Malik in the Bureau in Jerusalem, he shines white until Altaïr apologizes, when he starts to shine blue again. Just something I noticed. :)