Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I do not own AC; characters you do not recognise is solely my own creation.
Notes: I don't really like this chapter much :/ The writing felt much too odd and sorry for the long wait! It's just a filler for now, I wanted some action but it's going to take a loong time before I actually post it so this'll have to do for now :) Enjoy x
Ella woke up to the sound of footsteps ruffling in the sand close to her and all she could think of was that she was very much surprised that he hadn't left her in the night. Or killed her for the matter.
" Here," His hand lowered to hand a red object.
Looking at the apple, she accepted his offer by taking it and grabbing a bite from it almost instantly. She didn't know she was this hungry until there was actual available food in front of her. The last time she ate should be around late afternoon the day before.
" Thanks."
He grunted in response and stood up, the mat rolled under his arm shoved into a strap at the horse. " We should get going if we are to reach Jerusalem within the next 2 days."
The faster they got to Jerusalem the faster she might be able to get back home. But then again, her eyes wondered to the man fiddling with the horse, it all depends how long it will take for him to be done at Jerusalem and if he wants to help her return back to Acre to collect Ahmad's package and back to Masyaf.
" When do we leave?" She asked.
The man shot her a glare, as if her question was held the most obvious answer in the world. " We leave now."
Deciding it was best if she keep her mouth shut for fear of saying something stupid again or get her life on the line, she stood up and continued munching on the apple as she watch him strap up.
She stood in silence as she watched him work, his arms rippling with strength. The bandage on his leg had seeped up blood that -she assumed should be dry by now- traveled down into his boots before going out of eye sight and her red went back to the back of his head.
She wondered what was his name.
As much as she wanted to ask, she knew it was best to keep her mouth shut.
Before she even knew what was happening, they were already making their way to Jerusalem. What was left of the apple disappeared along with it.
Ella hated the heat.
One should think that being under the sun for the whole life, she should have gotten used to it but no. She didn't think it was possible to ever get used to the sun or the heat. The heat waves that was currently frying her brain made sure of that.
She hated the surroundings to put it simply.
There were no clouds for one, to reflect the heat or trap the heat during the night. And as far as her eye sight could see, it was all sand, sand, sand and a bit of cactus every now and then. Even the heat waves were visible to her eyes.
This was one of the few things she couldn't understand why Sayve enjoyed doing so much. The heat was literally boiling her insides beneath the skin, and melting her clothes onto her. It was either because Sayve was too dumb to realize she was draining her lifespan running up and down in the sun or she just wanted to get out of the house.
Ella had a feeling it was the latter.
" I hate being cooped up," Sayve said. It was a cool evening that the both of them had nothing to do on and so they both went up to the roofs to enjoy the cool breeze. Both dressed in their usual attire, Sayve had tossed her scarf aside claiming it blocked the wind from hitting her face .
The both of them laid down on their backs, hands propped behind their heads to support it.
Turning her head to the left to face Sayve, she watched in amusement as her friend closed her eyes when the wind blew another round. " Why is that?"
" It's like being in a cage, Ella. One big cage that lets you do whatever but still a cage. Get what I mean?" Sayve replied.
She hummed, turning her gaze back to the pastel colored sky. " Not really."
Sayve's soft laughter filled her ears for a while before she replied, a smile evident in her voice, " Then it doesn't matter. You should be happy that the cage never confines you."
It was days later when someone told her that was exactly the reason why Sayve was hardly ever home; running errands all over the place on a daily basis.
The cage never confines you.
It was hard to tell, when the heat was burning her insides, that if traveling with this stranger in the dessert was considered as a cage. There were no exits, none that she could visibly see that is. Sand stretched as far as they could go, Ella felt her mouth go dry.
Thirst burned at the back of her throat.
Almost idly, her eyes went to the water canteen strapped to the horse on her left. If only she could just take one sip -
" There is no more water," A voice snapped her out of her thought, and her hand retracted back to her instantly, " If you are planning on drinking that."
Ella stared at the man's back, eyes narrowing at the thought of him knowing that she was planning to take it.
When she said nothing, the man continued to speak, " When we see an oasis, we shall stop there."
Turns out the moment they saw an oasis was a good deal of hours later since they last spoke; with the sun close to setting. Well, at least they had a water source when they both rested for the night at the oasis -if they rested at the oasis. She'd like to think that they were both resting for the night over here; but she dare not ask the mysterious man to confirm her question.
Her gaze never lifted off his figure as he tied the horse around a tree bark; a weird interest bubbling in her as she watched him. Why? She didn't know the answer to it -other than finding his movement being so precise and graceful.
" What's your name?" She blurted out suddenly, and her eyes widen at her own surprise and she hoped that he didn't hear her. Apparently, he did and his movement stopped for a fraction of time before he resumed with whatever he was doing.
" Altair," He said.
Altair, she tested out on her lips and she smiled. A new found confidence in her after he said his name; and she told him hers. " My name is Ella. "
He grunted in response and she soon figured that Altair wasn't much of a talker like Ahmad was or Sayve. She sighed, slowly leaning back into the tree she was pressed to and closed her eyes. And shot back open almost instantly when she heard a ghost of a running water in the distance.
Water.
Finally -she could drink water! Standing up quickly, she pushed past him and grabbed the canteen, informing him softly that she was going to refill the canteen and be back shortly. It was easy enough for her to find a lake just with the soft hum of water running from a direction she was unsure of. But it didn't matter –she had water to drink after all the hours under the burning heat of the sun.
As she neared the lake, Ella couldn't help but be awed by the sight of the lake. A number of trees surrounded the lake, the leaves dipping closesr to the water like a curved rooftop. As much as Ella had complained about not having enough clouds in the sky earlier in the day, she was glad for a fact that the lake looked absolutely beautiful with the stars that weren't hidden behind the clouds winking back at her in the water's reflection.
Ella let out a wistful sigh and drank the water greedily when she reached the bank, after filling up the empty canteen. The water cupped in her hands were downed almost instantly; streaks of water trailing down her lips onto her chin and slowly soaked up by her clothes. But it still wasn't enough –the heat was still trapped within her. What she really wished for was just a chance to dip herself into the lake, to clean off all the dirt she collected from the past few weeks of her journey and the heat that confined in her.
But of course, she had no towel, much to her dismay and she had that stranger –no, Altair, waiting for her back at their campsite. Okay, maybe he wasn't waiting for her but who knows? He might decide to continue his journey to Jerusalem on his own without her and only then, she would be stranded with no sort of form of transport to go back to Masyaf.
Pathetically, she started to splash water onto her face, massaging the cooling water onto her skin. There wasn't much cooling down she could do anyway.
" What is taking you so –what are you doing?" A voice said, halting her from her actions.
Freezing at the voice, she felt her face turn a lovely shade of red. Of course, now would be the time he had to come find her –when she was busying herself with childish efforts to cool herself. " Cooling down?"
He chose not to comment directly on her but occasional grumbles could be heard as he sat down a comfortable distance away from her, slowly trudging off his boots. The wraps and the herbs following soon after and he lowered his leg into the water, a hiss escaping his lips narrowly and she saw his body tense on instinct.
Blood filled the corners of the lake where he sat, slowly turning the clear water to a dirty puddle and Ella was thankful that she refilled the canteen before Altair polluted the water with his blood.
She watched his skillful fingers trail along the wound, washing it clean. It must've been painful, she thought, to have a knife wedged into your leg. Ella wouldn't imagine the pain that she would have to go through but then, thinking on a different note, she suspected that this supposedly assassin(given that those men they were running from wasn't lying) had gotten worse injures compared to this.
Assassin.
As much as Altair proved to be true to his word, of not hurting her throughout the day, she still couldn't sit well with the fact. Shouldn't he have killed her for knowing that he was an assassin? Now thinking about it, he shouldn't have given her his name too –she could've spread the word that there was an assassin named Altair on the run. Not that she would tell anyone anyway; she'd like to keep her head intact for as long as she lived.
Deciding that having her thoughts running around the word assassin and Altair was doing more doubts with the man next to her than anything else, she went on a different topic. Apparently, there wasn't much to think of in the middle of the dessert and the silence between the two of them was starting to get on her nerves.
" Aren't you afraid someone would take the horse?" She asked, tired of the working silence as he mended his leg.
" I'm not afraid someone would take Gazi," And then a pause, " There is no one out here other than us."
All words failed her ears the moment the word Gazi left his lips, part of it because she was shocked he named the horse and half of it because she didn't want to admit her idiocy to asking such an obvious answer. " Gazi?"
Altair shot her a look, a glare fixated under his hood, " The horse. His name is Gazi."
Of course she knew the horse was Gazi. " No, what I meant was –you named your horse Gazi?"
His glare hardened on her, if that was possible and he lifted his leg out of the water. " I do not believe you are incapable of having the common sense to think for yourself, girl."
Biting back the words that could enrage him and possibly endanger her life, she reframed herself; her back straightening, a habit that came to her when she was stressed or frustrated. " Why did you name the horse Gazi?"
" I don't see a reason why I can't name the horse to my wishing."
Turning her gaze away from his, she stared out at the lake. What he said was true, he could name his horse whatever he wished –temporary or not. He had, after all, paid the sum for the horse. As long as the horse did its job, anything else could be thrown in along with it.
So why was she so fixated at asking why he named the horse Gazi?
She blamed the weeks of not having conversation with anyone until recently for this situation to happen.
" Sorry," She said, a sigh leaving her lips as she heard him buckle his boots back on. " I didn't mean to pry… I just didn't have anyone to talk to for a long time. It gets to the head you know? I'm just not used to not having human contact for so long. "
Like she suspected, he didn't reply to her little confession. Altair wasn't much of a talker, from what she could gather during the hours they spent together. He was a huge difference from Ahmad, which was a constant babble in their home.
Never would she have thought that she would miss his annoying company.
A shuffling of feet drew Ella back to what she was doing. She stared at his careful work, his hands rebounding back a clean cloth around the wound after applying some of the herbs she handed him over the other day. After a minute or two of watching him, she turned her attention to the lake, creating ripples on the water, watching her own reflection slowly shimmering under the moonlight sky.
" We should head back, it's getting late."
She jerked her head to the right so fast it surprised her that it didn't even felt painful. Or maybe because she was too interested in staring at Altaïr's leather boots inches away from her face as he stood where she sat.
When did he get here?
" R-Right," She stammered, suddenly feeling much aware of how close he was standing next to her. How fast he could just stab her in the heart and run for it. Hastily standing up from the ground, she picked up the canteen and stood a good feet away from him and continued, " We should..."
Dark eyes observed her, narrowing them just an inch and he nodded.
The walk back was awkward, the occasional light brushes against the arms would sent a jolt of electricity running through her spine and adrenalin pumping through her veins -as if everything was screaming for her to run.
There was one thing she couldn't understand; why did she feel so uncomfortable now rather than just now? She was much closer to him was she sat behind him for heaven's sake!
Probably because it was night and it was dark and it reminded her much too much of the night before.
Caught up in her thoughts again, she failed to notice a root stuck up above the ground, curving a perfect U shape before sinking back in, as though it was made for her to trip her leg on it.
Her eyes closed on instinct, bracing herself for the hard, painful impact of the ground they walked on; Ella was once again met with surprise when none came. But not as much surprise when she found herself stumbling back into Altair who had his hand gripped firmly on her elbow.
He must have reactions as fast as lightning to catch me like that, Ella thought.
And then it all came crashing down again -he was an assassin. Trained killer. He's going to kill you know for knowing his identity and-
" You're welcome."
Her thoughts rammed shut and she blinked. " What?"
" I said," He repeated, a faint expression on his face told her he wanted to roll his eyes but decided not to, " You're welcome."
Okay, now she was confused; all thoughts of him being an assassin running out the door as quick as they came. She didn't even say a thank you or anything that could've gotten a remark like ' You're welcome' given to her -oh.
Just, oh.
" T-thank you," She stammered again; what was with her tongue tonight? " For catching me."
Did she mention he had his hood down from his head? Even in the pale lightning the moon gave off, every inch of his face was visible to her. Elastic glint drew her attention back to the scar on his lip, where the stubs of his mustache didn't grow. She wondered how he got it... But that wasn't exactly the most appropriate question to ask on the second day of meeting.
Her eyes wandered into his then, a reflection of herself clear in his eyes. Ella knew his eyes has always been dark, but in the night, somehow it seemed that his eyes became a shade darker. His cocky smirk came into view when he noticed she was staring; flustered, she stared at the hand that gripped onto her.
It was weird to see one who wore as much leather as he, chest leather straps, leather boots and now leather gloves. She could see that the gloves he wore were well used, the scratches and peeled leather decorating over the knuckles; give or take another couple more months and it would have to be replaced.
And then she noticed the missing finger.
Cliffhanger! Well, I hope it is :P Tell me what you think about this chapter! Boring? Too short? More convo? More description?
The review button is looking lonely :( And so is his friends(fav/alerts) so why not click him and his friends to make them happy? :D
I'll try to post the next chapter asap
