"How did a cat get in here?"

Yusuf was sure his eyes widened when he heard that, he could feel them expand in shock. A cat? He wasn't a cat! He was a man! Or was he? Somehow the fact that his ears had pinned back to his head, and a tail he didn't recall ever having curled in between his legs didn't support his mental claims.

Ezio then reached for a strip of teal fabric that hung from his head, his headband! The old man pondered this curiously as he continued to study him, "And what's Yusuf doing without his headband?"

To that, he snapped, "Ezio! I am Yusuf! Put me down!" but instead of words, it came as a mix of hisses and mrrows. He then came to a last resort, and twisted around to claw at Ezio's hand that still held his scruff, and sunk his teeth into his wrist. At least he took the time to mentally appologize.

That did the trick, Yusuf was dropped as Ezio grabbed his hand and stared at cat turned Assassin. Midair, Yusuf righted himself and landed with a thud on his feet, now he could get used to that, but he knew well that he couldn't stay like this.

He then ran between Ezio's legs and to the bomb area. Behind him, the older was chasing. He climbed up on the table then jumped from the side, sinking his claws into the wall when he was close enough. Unfortunately, he lost his height and was easily plucked from the wood.

Ezio was more careful this time, and secured Yusuf's paws with one hand while his other wrapped around his midsection. No matter how much he twisted and turned, he couldn't reach Ezio's hands or arms with anything but his hindpaws. But those were very ineffective in this situation. He was carried and placed back on Ezio's desk, where on the floor he saw his discarded clothes had stayed the same size. That made him suddenly feel a lot more uncomfortable, seeing as he was NAKED. When Ezio saw the same thing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'd better not find him running around Constantinople nude..."

"I'm not! I'm right here!" Yusuf shouted, but once again, it came out as a hiss.

Then Ezio's foot almost stepped on the key, but he saw this before he actually placed his boot on it. He picked it up and looked from the disk, to Yusuf's clothes, to feline Yusuf. It was clear that he was putting the pieces together. Then his look was one of aggitation. "Yusuf... what have you done?"

The cat looked down at his paws innocently. He didn't really DO anything, it was the disk that did. Not at all could he explain what he did, or how, but it was the disk's fault! Oh how he'd love to tell Ezio why it couldn't have been his doing that turned him into a cat.

While Yusuf had been brooding, Ezio took the moment to collect his friend's robes from the floor and fold them up before placing them back down on the desk. Then another thought had come to his mind, as Yusuf could tell by the breif flash of something on his face. Next thing he knew, the old man was messing with his headband, pulling it down over his head and securing it around his neck. In his defence for personal space, he yelped and tried to pull himself away, but Ezio let him go when he was done. Now Yusuf's headband hung around his neck like an odd sort of collar. He sat and looked down in a sort of pouting way.

"Don't start complaining about it," Ezio told him. "It's probably better that I can find you again anyways."

No matter what curse or statement he could throw to defend himself, he knew it would be in vain. Only he seemed to know what he was saying. Instead he glared and shook his messy fur in an attempt to fix it after Ezio's handling rubbed it the wrong way. After another moment, he jumped off the table and padded around, noting how the world was so much larger than what it used to be. Correction, how much small HE was then what he used to be...

It was another few minutes before he finally decided to forgive Ezio for his handling, seeing as he himself would probably do the same thing, and returned to the man's desk, where he sat staring at the disk Yusuf had touched with a pondering expression. Yusuf lept back up and laid down hear his folded robes, resting his head on his paws as he stared at the glowing key with distaste.

It took Ezio an extra moment before he realized that Yusuf was trying to mend their friendship after the breif squabble, but he didn't bother to treat his friend like a cat and scratch his head or something. He was almost certain he would take his hand back with a few extra scratches.

"Mi dispiace, amico mio. It's just that last time I had to handle a cat, my sister and I had been chasing it around a bruffle." Yusuf glanced at Ezio oddly when he said this. What were you ever doing in a bruffle, old man? And with your SISTER?

"But, I do think we should be causious with this," Ezio continued. "The recruits are bond to ask where you are, or why a cat is in the headquarters. We'll have to think of something to tell them, no?"

That's when an idea came to him. Yusuf jumped to his paws and picked up the quill in his teeth. While Ezio knitted his eyebrows at the odd sight, Yusuf proceeded to dip the tip of the quill in the ink before sloppily writing his reply in Turkish. "Tell them I've gone to take care of some business with the Egyptian Assassins. And that I won't be back for a couple of months. That will buy us some time."

Ezio read this, having slight trouble due to his lacking in what he sometimes liked to refer to as Turk-speak (in his mind anyways), but nodded when he got the message. "Alright. And about a cat in the headquarters?"

"I don't know, make something up." Yusuf wrote.

"I could always break one of your paws and say I wanted to take care of you until you're better." Ezio joked. Though it wasn't well recieved, Yusuf pricked him with a claw. "Ow!"

Yusuf sat smuggly, almost appearing like a Chesire if he could smile.

Ezio held his bleeding knuckle between his teeth for a second before he flicked Yusuf's ear. "You obviously have no sense of humor, do you?"

Now normally the ear flicking would have set off a normal cat, but then again, Yusuf wasn't a normal cat. He simply pricked Ezio's finger again with his claw.

"Okay, fine! I get it!" He said once again putting the freshly bleeding finger in his mouth. It seemed sort of childish, as a kid who gave himself a papercut might lick the cut to rid of the blood. It only succeeded in making Yusuf hold his head a little higher with a look of clear confindence. Even if he were far less than half of Ezio's size, he still knew how to win.

The moment was swiftly ended when footsteps became audible. In his haste, Ezio was about to hide Yusuf when one of his recruits entered the library.

The newcomer in question was one of Ezio's much more older recruits, a black haired, Turkish woman by the name of Elif. Her tall and slender frame leaned against the door frame as she stared puzzled at the cat in Ezio's arms. "Afedersiniz, mentor. I did not mean to intrude."

"No, it's fine," Ezio answered.

Elif nodded. "Evet, if you say so. I was wondering if you have seen Yusuf around."

He quickly glanced down at his feline friend before meeting her eyes. Though he was forcing himself to not show any signs of lying in his nervousness, he managed to shake his head. "No. He had left to deal with some business between the Egyptain Assassins. And from what he had told me, he might not be back for a couple of months."

"Okay. Thanks." She nodded, though there was a hint of doubting that she was clearly trying to make. "I hope you don't mind my asking, but why do you have a cat?"

"Um... hehe..." He tilted his head down and glared at Yusuf through the corner of his hood for the lack of help he had given him on this part. After going through every excuse in the book, he sighed and answered, "I found this cat on my way to a blacksmith, and it won't leave me alone since."

"I also have one more question, Mentor." Elif continued.

Ezio pressed his lips together and nodded for her to go on.

"Whose robes are on your desk?"

The question in itself made him go paler than usual. Even Yusuf stood stiff before bringing himself into a tight ball to hide his headband. Now Ezio would have LOVED to have that crazy old man excuse so he could snap wildly "I HAVE THESE ROBES CAUSE I FELT LIKE IT! NOW QUIT ASKING ME QUESTIONS, WOMAN!" but that would raise too much suspition and he isn't exactly the definition of "crazy". So he decided to think quickly and hit her over the head with his bracer.

Yup, this chapter is random and full of foolishness. Don't worry, Elif isn't dead. I don't think she is, anyways. But at least no one knows the truth yet... I think... I'll get into a discription of what Yusuf looks like next chapter, because I was too lazy to make him find a mirror.