"Wait, Altair!" I whispered with as much kick as I could.

It was impossibly dark and I had repeatedly been tripping over loose bricks and broken merchant stalls. Altair was pulling us along at a dangerous pace. If we kept it up much longer, I was sure to melt in a pile of my own blobby muscles.

Altair did not stop. He only slowed a bit to hear me better above the crack of footsteps that echoed from our rushing trio.

"What, Shabah?" he hissed.

I flinched a bit at his tone. I could understand why he was so bent on getting to the gates as fast as possible, but why did he have to let it turn him into some heartless husk of a man?

"Can we…Can we stop….for…a minute?" I rasped.

"No time," he said simply.

All I could do was choke in my anger. Couldn't I have been sent to a time in which being physically adept was not so necessary? Altair and Faruq were like olympians gliding through Damascus' shrouded streets. Me? Well, I was more like a snail with asthma.

Apparently though, slow as they were, snails could still trip and smash their own faces in. I tried to catch something, anything that would break my fall, but all my fingers grazed was cool desert air, sending me flailing to the ground with a distinctive 'thud'.

"Shabah!" Altair cried, his whisper boiling over with adrenaline. He sounded more annoyed than concerned.

I groaned and felt the hollow gravity of blood pooling at my palms and knees. My body sang in joy at my less active position. It refused to pull me back to my feet, preferring instead to leave me right where I was as my heartbeat finally caught up to itself.

"Come on!" I heard Altair command.

I peeked up at him, standing over me with an arm outstretched, and I couldn't help but feel the urge to smack him. Had he been the one to trip, I would have showed at least some hint of concern. But I needed to wake up and smell the roses. I wasn't in a happy, fluffy world of bunnies. I was in the Middle East, and we had to get to the city gates. There was no simple warnings or scoldings if we were late. Rather, our very lives were at stake, and I needed to face up to it. I needed to realize that there was no space for my lacking physical qualities.

I blinked once in an attempt to open my eyes to a new me, a new outlook on my situation. So it was with this infant vision that I stared Altair straight in the irises and grabbed his urgent wrist. He pulled me up with one swift heave before turning to continue on our course. I was about to follow suit when I noticed Faruq fumbling with a small dark object in his hands.

Altair noticed too. "Faruq, what is that?"

"I do not know, Brother. It is unlike anything I have ever seen before."

He turned it over in his palms with curious interest. It was then that I realized what it was.

"Faruq!" I whispered desperately. "Where did you find that?"

"It fell out of your robe when you fell…" he mused.

"What?" I gasped.

How could that be? How could my ipod have fallen out of my robe when I had not put it there to begin with? I had never taken it out of my old clothes, so how on Earth did it end up with me now?

"Altair, I never put that thing in my robe."

Altair stared at me for a moment before he realized what I was referring to. When he did, his unhidden features contorted into a suspicious frown.

"Well, there's no time to ponder it now. We have to keep moving. Faruq, give that thing back to her."

Faruq's gaze twitched between Altair and me for all of one second before he nodded acceptingly and returned my device. I reflected on how he asked no questions, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand. I, on the other hand, found it difficult to ignore the fact that my ipod had magically transported to my new robe.

"Altair…how do you think-"

"Quiet, Shabah," he snapped, rushing off with Faruq.

~.~.~.~.~

"A little late for you to be out and about, citizen."

Altair stared at the four guards who blocked the gate. The one who had spoken crossed his arms sleepily and glared at us. We must have been a sorry looking group, panting and injured, constantly throwing glances at the sky. But we were nothing compared to the men who stood before us. Beneath their threaded helmets, I could see bruised bags hanging beneath their eyes, and their very skin rippled with exhaustion. How long had they been posted at the gate?

"We must be on our way," Altair replied nonchalantly. "Would you let us through so we can get to our horses?"

"You, citizen!" a hoarse voice called. "Stay where you are!"

Altair, Faruq, and I whirled around to gape at the approaching voice. In the gate's mild torchlight, a stout Templar knight was illuminated, followed by a troop of what looked like no less than six equally armored men.

"What is your business here?" the man bellowed, planting himself a few feet from us.

"We need to pass the wall," Altair said calmly.

Damn Templars always swooping in at the worst possible times to stunt our path. Just once, couldn't they just apologize for the disruption and continue on their way? I admired Altair for staying composed when there was so much being thrown at him. We were largely relying on him to get us through this confrontation and out of Damascus. Had I been in his shoes, I probably would have buckled over and started crying when everyone suddenly decided to depend on me for everything.

"Rather odd time to be leaving the city, don't you think?"

For the first time, I witnessed an act that I never imagined would grace my eyes. Altair reached into his waist pouch and presented a bulging purse whose contents were most definitely valuable. This leather sack he balanced almost playfully in his palm. What was he thinking? Bribe the Templars? How did that even fit into our list of options to begin with?

"I don't think it's an odd time at all," he proffered.

The Templar stared at the small pouch and scratched his beard greedily. "What are you proposing, friend?"

"Suppose I were to offer to Templars this gift as a show of my appreciation for their brave deeds in return for our passage through this gate."

"Hmm…Suppose I were to accept this gift on behalf of my fellow Templars and grant you such passage."

"T'would be an honorable thing to do, friend."

The knight nodded heavily and stood his ground, a peculiar expression on his face. It was one of both anticipation and…desperation. In perfect response, Altair approached his still form and extended his occupied hand, which the Templar shook cordially, receiving his bribe without so much as a blink.

As Altair backed away, the man motioned to the gate guards to disperse from their positions and make room for our departure. I couldn't believe it. It just did not seem possible that Altair would sink so low as to give money to a Templar, the very enemy that he devoted his life to extinguishing. His actions served as yet another testament to my ignorance as far as his character was concerned. We had busted our tails to get to the gate on time only for him to hand over some coins and be done with it. So what was it all for?

When we had finally cleared the city grounds, Altair scanned the stables for suitable steeds.

"Faruq, do you think you can ride?" he whispered, aware that the gate guards were still well within earshot.

"I can try, Brother. As long as we are not galloping the whole way."

"Good."

I stood on the sidelines while Faruq and Altair skimmed through the stables' occupants until they emerged with two sturdy-looking horses. Mud lined their manes and they moved a bit agitatedly, but they looked healthy enough. I could barely conceal my relief at seeing only two animals. My last experience with horses had been far from pleasant. This time apparently, I would not be the one conducting.

"You're riding with me, Shabah," Altair said matter-of-factly.

I nodded readily and waited for him to mount the dark steed before attempting to heave myself up behind him. I was about to slide off in my failure when Altair reached back and pushed me back onto the saddle.

"You really don't belong here," he muttered.

"You just now figuring that out?" I mumbled back.

"Relax, Shabah. Nobody's had it easy since you arrived."

"I know," I sighed.

"But it's not your fault," he continued. "You didn't ask to be brought here."

I was surprised by his sudden compassion. Maybe being out of the city chiseled a bit at the looming weight that pressed on his shoulders.

"Altair, why did you bribe the Templar?" I asked suddenly, curious about his sporadic behaviors.

"It was the safest option."

"But the Templars are your greatest enemy!"

"That man was not my enemy, Shabah. He was only following orders. He is more concerned with his coin than his honor. Had we encountered a more cultured knight I would have handled it differently."

"But…"

"I have to do what is best for your safety. It was the best option."

I stared at the slim space between us uneasily, deciding to leave well enough alone. For the first time since I arrived, I was struck with the oddity of being so close to a video game character. But he was so real that I couldn't see him as anything but human. He was so…tangible.

"I'm ready," Faruq whispered from beside us, his horse scuffling in the sand.

"Right," Altair nodded. "Hold on, Shabah."

I circled my arms around his ribs and leaned into his back. I could feel his muscles jump as he jerked the reins and started on the path towards wherever we were headed. I didn't actually know the plan, but it probably involved heading back to Masyaf. I would have asked had I not been so tired…and distracted. I couldn't get over being so close to Altair that I could smell him. Granted, he was not his usual self, as he was missing all his Assassin flair, but it was still him.

"So where are we headed, Brother?" I heard Faruq ask, raising his voice above the thumping of horse hooves.

"Masyaf," Altair answered.

I smiled to myself. Maybe I knew him a little better than I thought. When in doubt, always assume that Altair will he heading back to Masyaf.

"Altair?"

"Yes, Shabah?"

"Thank you."

~.~.~.~.~

"Looks like her body's settling down."

"I told you she was going to be fine."

"I still don't trust it. She's been getting more and more suspicious."

"Let her get as suspicious as she wants. She won't figure it out."

"And if she does?"

"Then we'll deal with it."

"'Deal with it'?"

"Oh, don't tell me you're having second thoughts. We've put too much into this to back out now."

"Yeah, but…Did you hear the news this morning? They're looking for her."

"Relax, would you? I've got it covered."

"But what if they find us?"

"They won't."