The story of Mallory

She grew up with no family support; her parents had jobs that prevented them to spend time with her. She ran away and is now trying to survive. But, who is this mysterious woman and man that appear at the most thankful time? She had to find out… OC-centric

Staying bedridden for four days is not fun…

Mallory pouted as Connor walked into her room again, a bowl of soup in his hand and a towel in his other hand. Somehow along the healing process, Mallory got a fever and was commended by Connor to stay in bed until she was well enough to walk without throwing up on the floors or clutching her stomach every few steps. Her head was still a little light, kind of like she had just been hit in the head with a metal bat repeatedly.

"You know, I just noticed that this is not what you were wearing when I first saw you," Connor chuckled while picking the sleeve of the shirt. Mallory shrugged away from his touch and looked away, not wanting him to see the tears gathering. Then, she felt fingers in her hair and she sighed. "Your hair is also very uneven, did you cut it yourself?"

"Yeah," she admitted while still looking away. Previously, her hair was at the bottom of her spine, but she chopped most of it away with a make-shift tomahawk. It was only a few minutes before she ran away, so she left behind a whole pile of hair for her elders to discover the day after. Of course her hair had grown out, but it still maintained the messy and uneven state she had left it in. Personally, she thought she looked better with uneven hair, it looked nicer to her. Plus, she neither had the time nor the ability to even it out.

"Where is your braid?" Connor asked, combing through her hair like a mother would. Mallory widened her eyes, forgetting all about the second thing that she had left with. How could she have not tied up her hair before hand? That lone braid was something her father had in his teenage years, at least, that's what the elders told her. After Aveline's outburst, she didn't know what to think any more. One thing's for sure, she needed to get that hair band back- meaning she had to go back to the big manor.

"I… lost the hair band," she replied after a few minutes had passed. She knew that Connor didn't believe her, he's too damn smart. But he dropped the subject after hearing her answer, also dropping combing her hair. His gaze landed on the towel that he placed on the foot of the bed and sighed. He forgot that she had a fever and she was sitting up. At least she wasn't struggling to get up or sit up straight; meaning she was improving.

"How old are you?" he asked, looking out the hole that acted as a window. The sun was slipping in, the sky was painted orange. The sun was setting and he knew that the next day, he would have to return to Boston. He sighed as he hoped that he wouldn't see her on the harbor. That woman knew when he was going back, and usually waited near the parking space just to spite him.

"Twelve and a half, why?" she turned her attention to Connor, raising an eyebrow when she saw then distant look in his eyes; like he was thinking of something important. She bit her lip to hide a small frown when she saw the tears that were forming in his glossed over eyes. The clear liquid was threatening to pour out, overflow. Before she could comment on it though, he turned his head away so she won't see him.

"Just curious," he replied. He got the cold bowl that was still filled with soup and walked out, leaving the slightly damp towel at the foot of the bed. With hasty steps, he walked out the cabin while trying not to spill the soup. Mallory frowned while sitting in her bed, pondering what Connor was thinking about to make him almost cry. After a few moments, she realized that she did not know anything about his private life and pouted, wanting to help him.

Deciding that the best thing to do was sleep at that moment, she lay back down and closed her eyes. Sleep came almost immediately as she drifted off to a cooling and comforting dreamland.

"We're getting off the boat today, wake up," Connor shook Mallory's shoulder slightly, trying to wake the girl up. Mallory groaned and took the wrist of Connor's hand, and squeezed it roughly. Connor groaned slightly in pain from the lack of blood circulating into his hand but did not move his hand. Instead, he squeezed Mallory's shoulder gently in fear of hurting her. Mallory released her hold on Connor's wrist and pushed his hand away. She sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes like a child, Connor chuckling at the childish action.

"Come on, we have to get out."

Mallory nodded while jumping out of bed to follow Connor. While they were walking down the hallways, Mallory looked around the ship, having not seen it before. She had not been let out of her cabin for the past four days so this was the only chance she got to look at the ship. Countless pistols were on the walls, swords on the ground. Not a very nice sight to her. She sighed, giving up on finding something about his personal life until she saw a perfect picture in black and white. She could not see from her position, but she could tell it was of him and possibly a colonial woman.

"Get off the boat," Connor said, breaking her train of thought. Mallory looked to the door of the ship, a plank placed in front of it. Reluctantly, she walked down the plank onto the harbor but not without a last look at the picture. Connor was behind her in an instant, making sure she got down safely. Then, she heard a quiet sigh come out from him. She looked at his eyes before following his gaze to near the marketplace. She face brightened slightly before she ran away from Connor and to the woman.

"Lady Aveline!" she yelled loudly while running towards the African woman. Mallory then proceeded to hug Aveline, almost tackling her to the ground. Mallory buried her face at the space below Aveline's chest, breathing in the faint smell of pine. How she missed the comforting embrace of Aveline, she kind of regretted running away from the manor.

"Hello Derora, how are you?" Aveline asked while hugging her closer. They stayed in that position for a few moments before Mallory pulled away and smiled at her.

"Just fine, thank you Lady Aveline," Mallory replied. She didn't miss the word Derora but guessed it was just a nickname for her, like Kanatiio from Connor. Aveline smiled at the response and looked towards the direction of the ship, more specifically- the ship's captain that was walking towards the two girls. His strides were fast but short, hastily making his way towards them. Aveline couldn't help the smirk forming on her lips when she saw him.

"Hello, Connor," she greeted when he was within ear-shot. He nodded in reply while looking at Mallory. Mallory looked before them, not sensing the tension but not knowing how they knew each other. She decided to not question it and stood in the middle, waiting for someone to break the silence. When nobody did however, Mallory did the only thing she knew how to do; run.

A/N: Everything looks so much longer in Microsoft word. So is sort of an apology chapter for you guys after posting the author's note. So, Aveline and Connor see each other again! And I reveal the third name that Mallory is going to be known by. Not sure what origin Derora is from but it means 'a bird; a swallow'. I thought I'd get continue the trend of Assassin names that mean bird. (Connor broke that chain) Anyways, wonder how Connor and Aveline with deal with Mallory running away- again. (Also, my tumblr has a picture of Mallory ages 12,10 and 8. I am aware that when she's age 12, he skin looks light but blame it on Microsoft paint. Just imagine that her skin is darker but not as dark as when she was 10 and 8.)

Disclaimer: Assassin's Creed does not belong to me. Only Mallory/ Derora/ Kanatiio belongs to me.