Chapter 2
The legendary assassin, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, had once been shamed and forced to leave the brotherhood of Assassins, but through perseverance and skill, he hunted down and killed nine key Templars before returning to Masyaf and killing his former mentor Al Mualim. He regained his honour and rose once more to the rank of Master Assassin. Now, in modern day, a group of six killers followed in his footsteps. They were no longer proud Assassins. They were nothing more than common murderers and killers now. The group, who was made up of five men and one woman, had been driving for several hours north from the Farm, leaving Dakota and crossing the border into Canada. The continued north for several days, stopping in small towns to refuel and buy more food and supplies. Only one of them knew where they were going. The driver was the leader of this squad of former Assassins and he knew of a place they could hide and retrain. After a few days, they crossed into the northwest territories of Canada. The drove up the mountains and through the forests until they reached a lonely wooden cabin on one of the hills of a valley. There was no human life for miles and miles and the nearest town was 27 miles away. Other than the local wildlife, there was no other life in the area. The lodge was in the middle of a clearing surrounded by tall, oppressive fir trees, lightly caked in snow. The lodge itself was half buried in snow and the door was mostly blocked by the dazzlingly white snowpack. Animals stirred, aware of the newcomers presence, in the darkness of the forest.
"Where are we?" One of them asked.
"The middle of nowhere." Commented another.
"Exactly." The leader stated. "We're where no-one will ever find us. We're completely isolated."
"What will we do for food? What we have in the van should cover us for a few days, maybe, but what happens when it runs out?"
"We hunt." He replied. "We live off the land. Make the most of what we've got."
"Are you actually insane?!" The female killer asked, exasperated.
"A little bit." The leader consented, "But after all the shit we've been through, we all must be!"
"I blame Miranda." The youngest member of the group, Jimmy, shot at them.
"Well fuck you too!" She yelled back at him, jabbing him painfully in the ribs with her finger.
"If you two fought the enemy as much as you fight each other, the Templars wouldn't even exist right now…" James sighed.
"Stay out of this, asshole!" Miranda shrieked.
Within seconds, the whole situation had descended into another full-blown argument between them all.
"You see?" The leader, a man named Dante, stated. "All we do is bicker and fight amongst ourselves. We need to start co-operating and working together! We're not going to get anything done like this! That's the reason I brought us here! That's why! If we wanna survive, we have to work together!"
Everyone was momentarily silent as they pondered on his words. Everyone looked to the ground and shuffled uncomfortably from foot to foot as they realised he was right. The team's biggest weakness was themselves. Then they looked at each other; their teammates.
There was Miranda. Short yet lithe with a hard stern face with caring, motherly eyes. Her hair was midnight black and dropped dead-straight past her shoulders. Her makeup was light and only enhanced her natural beauty, yet she was more of a tom-boy than a stereotypical lady. She often felt like the only true girl of the group and would often call the others sexist if they gave her a task she did not like as a way of hiding her increasing laziness.
There was Jimmy. He was equally tall as Miranda and slightly chubby at the waist with sandy brown hair that fell in curls to frame his face. He was young and innocent, but he had trained to kill since he was young and would not lose sleep after killing his marks. His huge male ego would frequently cause arguments between himself and Miranda, leading to the pair arguing about anything on a daily occurrence.
There was James. Tall and scholarly, James always sought to find a reasonably solution to all problems using knowledge and logic. He was not afraid to kill and draw blood, but where it could be avoided, he would try his best to dodge any confrontation. His blonde hair was straight and separated down the middle, circular glasses framing his face. He was the only one of the group to go to university and he would often boast that fact to the others.
There was Lilith. A guy who often felt like a girl, Lilith was the team's best infiltrator. Her hair was long and straight, combed over to one side, shaved on the other, and dyed electric blue. She was often silent and heavily focused on any task they were given. Her weakness was that she was a bit of a loose cannon, often going solo, doing what she felt was best, which sometimes put the group in danger. This was probably as a result of her being trained as an infiltrator, leaving her in solitude as she made her way through enemy security to scout ahead. She was not used to working with the team.
There was Taylor. He was the team's muscle. Medium height but of a stocky build, he acted as the group's enforcer. When a target needed interrogating or a door needed kicking inwards, his chubby face and ginger hair would often be called to do the job. Originally from the Irish brotherhood, his accent made him stand out in a crowd, so he was often the quietest of the group, besides Lilith. His brutish personality and mind-set often meant he was charging headstrong into danger when careful planning and patience were key.
There was Dante. He was the leader of the group. His dashing silver hair belied his young age, though he was regularly considered a man of wisdom beyond his years. He was of medium height and build, and looked like an average man. However, he was an expert at parkour and a master of hand-to-hand combat. His biggest flaw was his lack of control over his team. He had repeatedly asked to be reassigned to a different team, and was always denied. Although it was not entirely his fault, he was partly responsible for the team's lack of focus and compatibility as he did little to solve internal arguments or carry out team practise sessions or team-building exercises. Now he was paying the price for his lack of natural leadership and control over his team.
Cold winter snow drifted slowly towards the pure white ground all around them. The bitter winter chill bit into them through their thick clothing. They all shivered against the extreme cold as their hairs stood on end.
"Right," Dante yelled above the howling, swirling wind. "Now that you're all quiet, shall we get started on the work that needs doing? Or would you all prefer we freeze to death in the night?"
As if on cue, the wind howled again, driving home another bolt of cold that reached for the former Assassins' hearts. A layer of snow cascaded off the roof of the decrepit wooden lodge. They all nodded, desiring work to at least keep them warm and their blood flowing.
"Good!" Dante said. "We've got about four hours until sunset. Now then, Jimmy, I want you to clear the snow away from the door of the lodge, so we can then get in, and then clear out any snow that has managed to get into the lodge. Fix any internal damage too. I'll help you with that later. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!" Jimmy saluted before dashing off to start his labour.
"Taylor! Find an axe and go into the forest, chop some logs into firewood for us."
"Aye…" Taylor nodded.
"James. You've always got your face in a book. How's your horticultural knowledge?"
"A bit rusty…" James admitted, adjusting his glasses. "Though I do see some plants I recognise."
"Good! Mind finding us something to eat tonight?"
"I'll get right to it!" James beamed, happy that his intellect was finally being put to good use.
"Lilith. I think there is a composite bow somewhere in the lodge. Acquire it. You're on hunting patrol."
Lilith only nodded before brushing one side of her hair out of her face.
"Miranda! Cleaning duties, and then you're in the kitchen!"
The group was momentarily quiet as they stared at Dante in shock and disbelief. Slowly, Dante's straight-faced expression creased into a smile before he burst out laughing.
"Sorry…" he laughed, wiping his tears away. "I couldn't resist! Miranda, I need you to help me unpack the food supplies and bedding. We're going to need to store it all somewhere and somewhere to sleep tonight too."
The group laughed nervously as they walked and jogged their separate ways to see to their assigned tasks.
Within only a few hours, Jimmy had cleared out the majority of the snow by the doorway and within the cabin, and had even made a small cut through the snow to act as a pathway to the door. Miranda and Dante had moved the majority of the supplies from the van to the lodge and had set up two small sleeping areas: one for the guys and one for the girls. In the kitchen, a fire was crackling quietly in a wood-fired stone oven cooked a small pot of bubbling stew and illuminated the dim cabin. The lodge cabin was moderately small and only had 5 rooms: a kitchen, two large bedrooms, a living space and a store room. All of this was condensed on a single floor. Several snowy hares hung from hanging racks in the kitchen and a small deer was strung up in the store room, all thanks to Lilith's efforts in the forest. Also in the store room was a large pile of logs, ready to be split into firewood, of which there was a small piles of next to the little oven. The team could thank Taylor for giving them a warm meal in their bellies and a snug place to sleep tonight. James was stationed at the cookery pot, adding several plants and herbs he had saved from the cold winter's bite into the pot, supplementing the boiling stew. The others were sat cross-legged in the living area, chatting amongst themselves. With no furniture to populate the space, they all had to sit on the floor or the rug, crowding around a fireplace that was burning just as brightly as in the kitchen. For the first time in a long time, they all were civil with one another. Not a single argument was raised. Even Lilith came out of her shell slightly and chatted kindly with the others. And everyone smiled and relaxed as James strolled in carrying bowls of herb and hare stew for everyone to enjoy. For the first time, they were all collectively working as a team and now they were reaping the benefits. Why had they never done this before? Dante's smile was the largest as he watched the others dive greedily into their meals. At last, his team were cooperating. Maybe they would prove themselves and earn a place back amongst the Assassins sooner than he thought. But soon he stopped observing them and tucked in to his meal himself, his stomach growling loudly to remind him of his hunger.
Several hours later, in the middle of the night, Dante silently made his way outside, cautious not to wake his sleeping team. The door creaked painfully loud as he opened it, stepped outside then closed it behind him. Listening intently for any sign that he had woken the others, he sighed with relief as he heard no movement inside. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes and an old lighter. He pulled one cigarette free from the packet before placing it in his mouth and replacing the packet in his pocket. He attempted several times to click the lighter to life, with no success.
"For fuck's sake…" He muttered in annoyance through the cigarette.
"Smoking is bad for your health you know…" A voice whispered from above.
Dante quickly whipped around in response and looked at the source of the voice. Sat up on the roof of the lodge was Lilith, perched and wrapped in a thick blanket, bow lay beside her. She smiled at him and tossed down a match. He caught it and nodded thankfully before striking it on the lodge wall, causing the match to flare up brightly. He held it up to his cigarette to light it, before shaking the flame out of existence and taking a long drag of his cigarette. He blew the smoke calmly out, smiling smugly from his sated urge. It had been too long.
"I didn't know you smoked." Lilith whispered.
"Not many people did." Dante replied, taking another drag. "I quit a few years ago. I guess all the stress had gotten to me." He laughed.
"We all cope in different ways." Lilith conceded.
"What about you? How do you cope?"
"I go hunting. I like feeling free and wild. I like the wind in my hair and the thrill of the hunt."
"Huh. I guess I'll have to join you sometime."
"I'd enjoy that…"
They both stood in silence for a while, taking in the details of the night. Dante took several more drags, enjoying each as much as the first.
"Do you really think we can do it?" Lilith asked, breaking the silence between them.
"Do what?"
"Earn our respect back. Re-join the brotherhood. Regain our honour. Be an actual team."
"Of course!" He exclaimed, still wary to stay quiet to avoid waking the others. "Why wouldn't we be able to do it?"
"Because to my knowledge, only one Assassin has ever done that, the great Altair! And he was still technically in the brotherhood. He was simply demoted to the lowest level novice within the order and forced to prove himself to regain his ranks once more. We have been kicked out of the brotherhood completely! And not only that but… it's us!"
"What's wrong with us?" Dante asked, tossing his cigarette to the ground, stamping it deeply into the snow.
"We can't work together. We're too different from one another. Our personalities clash too often. We don't cooperate. We don't work together. We're a terrible team!"
"We are not! Everyone pulled together this evening! Everyone one of us worked together as a team! We can survive together!"
"We may have come together to survive but we all worked alone. The only people who actually worked together was you and Miranda!"
"We are a good team and I will prove it! We will be Assassins once more, I promise you!"
"You don't see it, do you?" Lilith asked, grabbing her bow and hopping down from the roof. "You're so obsessed with joining the brotherhood as soon as possible that you can't see our flaws."
Dante wheeled around and grabbed Lilith by the throat, slamming her against the wall of the lodge. He placed his face right in front of her, a face a pure rage and frustration. Spittle flew from his mouth as he fought back the urge to yell at her. She could not breathe and frantically kicked out with her legs as he held her up and off the ground, and she tried to pull his hands off her neck. Her bow and quiver of arrows lay forgotten several feet away, lost in the initial struggle.
"How dare you doubt my skills as a leader! You are nothing! You don't know a thing about what I have to go through for this team! Don't you ever doubt me or the team again! Understand?"
He whispered the last part quietly in her ear, biting it softly.
Lilith nodded desperately as her legs kicked and twisted below her as she fought desperately for air.
He forced his mouth on to hers and his tongue onto hers, confusing the infiltrator as she continued her futile effort for air.
"Good." He spat, before releasing her throat, dropping her coughing and spluttering to the ground.
"I'll see you in the morning." He said, looking down at her in disgust. "Goodnight."
He marched back into the lodge, leaving Lilith gasping for air and wondering what just happened. When she had regained herself, she picked up her discarded bow and quiver and dashed off into the forest cloaked in midnight.
Author's Note: Hey guys! It's back! Sorry it has taken so long to write another chapter for this. Just want to thank everyone for your continued support of my work. If you like my fics, please check out my profile and vote in the poll at the top. It would mean so much to me! Thank you all again, and I'll hopefully upload another chapter soon!