Disclaimer: I don't own Assassin's Creed or any of its characters
All the mistakes are mine!
Ezio ran right back to Leonardo's workshop. His heart pounded the whole way. He felt weak and vulnerable out in the open without Altair running beside him, his hard stares watching his every move. Like a wolf watching its young, to make sure that it didn't run off and get hurt. Ezio didn't expect to be attached to someone so quickly but Altair was what kept death away from his doorstep.
At the thought of death Ezio thought of his family. His brothers and father were being kept away in some tower while they waited for Assassins to rally up and attack. His mother and sister were on their way to his Uncle Mario's, out there in the open road. Ezio's first thought was to go and find them but Altair's words rang in his ears. He had no skills or weapons. He would be of no use to them. No, he should actually listen to orders for once and do as Altair told him. When the heavy wooden door came into view, Ezio had barely knocked before it opened.
"Leonard I-Altair sent me. There's…there's a problem…la mia famiglia…" Ezio could barely form a sentence but the painter was quiet and patient. He let Ezio in, all the while listening to rambling of the boy.
"Come now, Ezio. Sit! Sit, warm up." Leonardo sat Ezio by the roaring fire and the novice hadn't realized how cold he had really been till the warm fingers of heat wrapped around his chilled skin.
"An another Assassin stopped by on their way to reunite with your brothers." Leonardo knelt down in front of Ezio, taking his cold hands. It startled the boy, and refocused his mind. He gazed down at the painter's hands. They were rough and callous but warm. "Your family will be safe, Ezio, I know it." The blonde man grinned cheerfully and stood. He walked back to his table and began to tinker with the protect Ezio had dropped off earlier. The boy looked around at workshop, filled with so much more than paintings.
"Sorry for the mess." Ezio turned back to the painter. "I feel unfulfilled as just painter. While it is my passion, there is so much more I want to do." Leonardo said with a laugh. Ezio couldn't stop the small smile that appeared on his face.
"I'm just going into the family business." He mumbled.
"And with a master like Altair, it will an exciting time, si?" Leonardo said and Ezio's brow furrowed.
"I don't understand." He said embarrassed. The blonde laughed.
"You wouldn't, would you? Altair, he's…quite the legend. He reached the rank of Master Assassin at only 25. Amazing and terrifying when you think of it."
Ezio lowered his hood and sat back, his gaze on the fire. His mentor seemed to have this air of power around him but except for a few guards. Ezio had yet to see the man in his element.
"He will save them Ezio." Ezio looked back to the painter with a sober expression. For a moment, he looked far older. "He knows what's it's like to lose family. He wouldn't let that happen to someone as innocent as you." Ezio nodded but even as he sat there in the warming glow of the fire. He felt cold.
Altair and no other Assassin returned that night or the next morning. Ezio received his finished blade, and had the spirits scared right out of him by Leonardo's 'joke'. To think he might have to cut off his ring finger for a blade. He glared at the artist and the man laughed.
"You know, Ezio, there was a time when it was necessity to show your commitment to the creed." Ezio squeezed his fist tight. "Altair doesn't seem to mind his ring finger missing. His blade is an older, more traditional, design." The artist commented from his easel. He was working on a painting a lovely woman.
Outside the world began to stir in a flurry of sound and Ezio stood.
"I cannot wait any longer. I have to at least what is going on." Leonardo only nodded and gave him a silent reassuring hug. He walked outside and it was like any other day. People were walking about on their normal morning routes. Guards patrolled the area and Ezio remembered to pull his hood low over his face before moving on.
It was in the square, surrounded with chattering people and Ezio knew he would find his family. Ezio felt a lump build in his throat as he weaved through the people towards the center. As he looked around, he saw Assassins slither through the shadows, taking out the enemies. When he stopped before the wooden platform . Ezio looked up.
"NO!" He shouted and felt the world crumble around him and the novice sunk to his knees and people faded from his mind. His father and brothers swung on ropes connected to their necks. He sat frozen and tears burned his eyes and his cheeks. When men in white robes rushed past him onto the platform he felt anger rise in him.
"Get away from them!" Ezio shouted, his anger and sorrow clouded his mind and Ezio didn't realize they were there for his sake. Thick arms wrapped around him from behind and lifted the novice up. Ezio struggled and fought against the person as they started to drag him away. Grunts of pain were heard from his attacker but only when they had dragged the boy from the city did they let go.
Ezio fell to the ground and buried his head in his arms. His attacker knelt down beside him and stroked his back. Ezio looked over and the first thing he saw through his blurry eyes was his mentor.
"È figlio di una cagna!" He tackled Altair, scrambling for purchase on his white robes.
"You promised! You promised you would save them!" Altair allowed his fruitless struggle for moment before overpowering him and pinning his arms down.
"You're a liar! You liar!" He shouted over and over again until he couldn't his chest heaved with exhaustion. When his throat was raw and his cheeks were dry with tears.
Ezio just laid there in the grass watching the clouds move in the sky. A breeze would sweep through and brush his curly hair across his face. He was numb to the world. Only Altair holding onto his wrists that kept Ezio anchored. His amber eyes burned and watched over him. Ezio, for the first time, finally had a real look at his mentor. He was shocked by what he saw but he was too tired to react as he once would have.
Altair was covered in blood. It splattered his white robes in a wild pattern. His hood was down and Ezio saw a fresh cut running down the side of his face. His face portrayed no pain, no emotion at all. The bright amber eyes were hard as metal and dead on the surface.
Ezio let his gaze travel. The white robes and the gray undershirt were tore in several places and even the leather belt was sliced. He could see tan skin peek out under blood that still flowed from open wounds. The weapons he carried,ones that always glistened, were crusted dark.
Ezio then noticed the hidden blade. Bound in the thick leather and laid with ornate metal pieces. There missing from his hand was the space where the ring finger should have been. He watched in a dazed fascination as Altair rubbed his thumb along the empty space like the bone and flesh was still there.
Ezio wondered if Altair sometimes forget it wasn't there. His eyes traveled back to Altair's face. Shiny from sweat and dark from blood and dirt. Hidden under all that was a blank mask that the Assassin had never wore around him before. Altair refused to speak and Ezio wished he would. His face was stone hard and unforgiving.
"Say something." Ezio mumbled, his voice was harsh and he wished for wine, water, anything to sooth the ache. Both of mind and body.
"I can't." The older Assassin's mask crumbled a bit. Cracked in half and Ezio saw his true emotions. Pain, old and deep showed through. A pain that Ezio couldn't begin to know the depths of, Ezio could remember something of what Leonardo said about Altair's family.
"I don't have the words. Years have gone by and I still don't know what to say to make it better." Ezio blinked and stared. "Your family has been retrieved and will be given a proper burial. Until then, you'll stay with your mother and sister at your uncle's villa." The boy nodded. "Word will reach them before we do." It was a small relief, not having to tell his remaining family the news.
"And you?" Ezio didn't want to be somewhere Altair was not. Altair frowned and the smooth scar on his lips wrinkled.
"I will remain and take control, along with the other masters, of everything here." Now Ezio frowned and he blinked back tears.
"We will...will see each other again?" He asked almost too quietly.
"Of course, unless you get yourself killed." Altair smirked a bit.
"Where are the guards? The alarms?" Ezio spoke, he wanted his mind off of the current subject.
"Our brothers are taking care of all of that." Ezio frowned and clenched his fists at the word brothers. The men of the Brotherhood weren't his brothers. Altair seemed to know that.
"They may not be blood Ezio but I found they can be very close to it."
A/N:Originally I was like, hey this is my story I could totally let Ezio family live but Ezio losing his family was such a huge part of his story and shaped him as a character I couldn't take it out. Also Altair is basically all Ezio has so he's a bit clingy.
Confused? Free feel to let me know!
la mia famiglia-my family
È figlio di una cagna-You son of a bitch
si-yes
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