Note ~ This one's a little special to me. I was trying to channel some stuff that's going down right now so...this chapter was carved straight from my heart. Sarah's got some mud to wade through before this is done. :P
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Early warmth tickled my lashes until I could keep my eyes closed no longer. Sleep had all but dissipated from my body. In fact, I felt better than I ever had since I arrived. I flexed my toes and fingers, rolled my neck, and stretched my arms as high as they would go. What had changed to make me feel this spontaneous…vitality? I blinked curiously and observed the two unconscious Assassins who lay in the sand beside me. Apparently, whoever had been keeping watch had fallen asleep. So much for being alert.
The newborn sun peeked at me from behind the greying mountains, promising to rise in a few hours. I smiled at its ticklish warmth that was not quite fulfilling yet satisfactory just the same. It reminded me of the dull light that peered through my windows in the mornings just before school. My alarm would chime until I managed to find the willpower to switch it off. Then, I would stumble off into a welcoming hot shower.
It felt strange to think of my old routine as if I had just walked through it yesterday. It seemed silly and insignificant in this dusty, armored place. With each passing moon, I felt as though a fragment of my old life had been stripped away, cast into a never-ending void of forgotten memory. I feared that this pattern would continue until nothing more remained of my old heart, replaced by a false, broken one.
And yet, today felt different. I felt renewed almost, like all of my old freedom and youth had been planted right back into my hollowed bones. But this foreign power had failed to fill my empty stomach, which complained stubbornly in the breezy silence. Altair and Faruq had to be hungry too, right? What good was a lump of bread to two very healthy, very active men?
I watched them for a moment, waiting for one or the other to wake up and groan for food. They never did. I sighed and thought back on what Altair had told me before he fell asleep. He said I was going home and that was that. Well, how did he plan on following through with that plan while he dreamed happily in the sand.
I gazed at his sweaty, dusted face. His lips twitched every now and then, distorting the crooked scar that played upon them, and his breath came in a short staccato rhythm when they did. Faruq's restful expression was a little more colorful than Altair's. His lips were a hint fuller, eyes rounder, and skin lighter, making for an interesting orchestra of movement as he dreamed. But both men held the same strange cloud above their heads, that guardian that measured their every breath. It was like they were never allowed to act without first getting its permission. Maybe all Assassins had it. Maybe it was programed into their thoughts when they were young. Either way, it was more sinister than it was comforting.
I nudged Altair's arm gingerly. "Altair?"
Almost immediately after I touched him, his eyes were open and darting from side to side, searching for the threat.
"Altair," I repeated. "It's me."
His eyelids relaxed and he turned his head to look at me. "What do you want, Shabah?" he asked tiredly.
"Don't you think it's time we started moving again?"
He glared at the happily rising sun. "Hmm…I suppose it is." He frowned. "Faruq must have fallen asleep while keeping watch."
"Yeah," I confirmed. "You were both pretty tired, though. Besides, nobody came and tried to kill us."
"But we may have been tailed."
"By who? We got out of there clean."
"Never assume, little ghost. Anything can happen when you have your back turned."
I squinted suspiciously at him. Was he referring to Al Mualim's betrayal? Or maybe he was trying to force that watchful guardian thing on me. Either way, it was a conversation that I was in no mood to feed. It was my stomach that needed that kind of attention.
"Listen, Altair. I'm starving and we aren't going to find any food sitting around here. Plus, if we were tailed, I'm sure it would be smart to keep moving."
He stared at me for a moment, tapping his calloused fingers in the sand. "Fair enough, Shabah. I too would like something to eat. I'll get the horses ready while you wake Faruq. How's that?"
"Sounds good to me," I smiled, leaning on a nearby palm as I hoisted myself up.
Altair followed my movement with considerably more grace and made his way towards the resting horses. I scowled at his back. I could have sworn that he was showing off his limberness sometimes just to spite me.
"Faruq," I beckoned, crouching beside his limp frame. "Faruq, we're getting ready to move."
He blinked up at me and mouthed something drearily before he finally sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. "Oh no…I must have fa-"
"It's alright, Faruq. You were tired. We're gonna go look for some food."
"Hmm…Food would be nice."
I glanced back at Altair, who was still busy unhitching the horses. I had some time alone with Faruq.
"Umm…Faruq?"
He stared at me openly, awaiting my query.
"I know that you probably don't want to talk about this. Trust me, I don't either, but I want to get it off my chest…"
"What is it, Shabah?"
"La-" I had to pause to clear my throat. "Laleh didn't deserve…I didn't deserve…"
Faruq closed his hand around mine. "Shabah, if you're thinking that I doubt her decision, then you are mistaken."
"What?" I tried to pull my hand away, but he held it fast.
"I know she made the right choice. And I know that I am making to right choice by helping you get to wherever it is you need to be. You didn't ask to be saved, and it wasn't your decision for her to die."
I stared into his eyes, searching for any hint of anger of contempt, but there was only peace. It was a beautiful, solitary freedom that spread through his entire expression. He had let go of Laleh, accepted her death. And yet there I sat, still wallowing in my guilt.
"But…It was-"
"Not your fault."
He gazed at me with the full extent of his sincerity until I cracked.
"Thank you, Faruq…"
"Hey!" Altair called. "Let's move!"
Faruq squeezed my hand a little before he let go to stand. I couldn't believe it. I had never experienced anything like the death I had seen in this world. I had never lost anyone close to me before…Now though, I knew what it was like, and I knew how to move on. It seemed bizarre that some man who didn't really exist had helped me move past my emotional disfunction. I laughed a little to myself as I followed him to the horses with Altair. Maybe I was going insane…
~.~.~.~.~
"How is she doing?"
"The implant has integrated itself into her system flawlessly. Her muscles are stabilizing, her neural receptors are active, blood water content average, and well, she's back with us again. Well done. I'm sure she notices the difference as well."
"Thank God. Now the only way to go is forward. We won't have to worry about anymore setbacks."
"But just remember, we're not out of the woods yet. We may have to move to our other facility."
"Has something happened?"
"No, not yet, but they're getting close. I'm not about to throw them a line."
"Alright, then. We'll stay here for a few more days. We'd better start packing now, though."
"I've already arranged for the power to this place to be cut. It needs to look as though no one has ever been here."
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"Look over there, Brother. I think it's a village."
Altair warded off the brightening sun with his hand and looked to the East, where Faruq was pointing. Indeed, sitting in a quaint valley beneath the cliffs was a good-sized village. However, it was still fairly distant. Altair guessed it would take at least an hour to reach. He didn't know if Sarah would last that long. Her stomach had been growling consistently since they set off on the road again.
"Do you see a way down to it?" he questioned, searching for a way off of their cliffside path.
"I think it may spiral down aways as we get further along this road," Faruq assured. "It might be best for us to keep to the shade, though. It's getting pretty hot."
"You can say that again," Sarah groaned.
"Why would I say it again?" Faruq asked curiously.
Sarah laughed into Altair's back. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."
Altair leaned to brush an insect from his horse's mane. "Well, it looks as though we won't be getting close for a while."
"Do you think there are any Templars there?" Sarah asked.
Altair thought for a moment. "I can't say for sure. If there are, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. We're all disguised."
"That reminds me," Sarah mused. "Where did you and Faruq leave your Assassin gear?"
"In the bureau," he answered simply. "The Rafiq will send it to Masyaf with a merchant or an informant." Faruq nodded in agreement.
"So you don't have any weapons?" I persisted.
Granted, they wouldn't be able to use them too well in their injured states, but weapons were a shining comfort in this Templar-infested time.
"Don't be naive, Shabah," Altair huffed. "I still wear my armor beneath these robes. As for weapons, we are never without our hidden blades."
I pulled one arm around and poked at his waist, finding his claim of being armored to be true. "Where are you injured, exactly?"
"I don't see how that is of any importance to you."
"Just so I know not to nudge you the wrong way."
"I doubt it would make much of an impact if you did, Shabah."
If he had a bra strap, I would have pulled it. "I don't remember you being this sarcastic in the game. A jerk maybe, but not sarcastic."
"Game?" Faruq questioned.
"It's nothing, Brother," Altair assured. "Pay no mind to her mad rantings."
Altair himself was still in denial about the whole game idea. The more Sarah reminded him of it, the more he wanted her gone so he could utterly banish her atrocious claims.
"I do not believe she is mad," Faruq persisted.
"But she speaks as such."
"Altair!" Sarah whispered harshly, thrusting her finger straight ahead.
"What is it?"
"I don't know…Looks like some people on horseback." Sarah had her neck craned to peek around Altair's torso.
Altair strained to see in the sandy breeze. Just as she she said, he could see at least three horses riding in their direction. They were too far away to identify, though.
"Could be missionaries," Faruq suggested.
"Maybe, but missionaries don't usually have the money for steeds, Brother."
Faruq leaned to get a better look, but his efforts were fruitless. "We'll just have to wait for them to get close enough to see clearly."
"Best to stay on our guard in the meantime. They could be Templars. Shabah, keep your head low and don't make any eye contact."
"Okay," she pulled her head back behind Altair and sighed. "What's our cover story?"
"Cover story?" Altair asked.
"Yeah…like our false identities."
"Ah, I see. We are nobles. Though you cannot see it, Shabah, they will be able to discern as much from our robes."
"I just don't see the difference…" Sarah mumbled.
"Be silent, Shabah. We will be within earshot soon."
To Altair's pleasant surprise, Sarah did not protest. He welcomed the silence that followed with open arms. This blissful quietude lasted for maybe twenty minutes until the approaching strangers were close enough to identify...
"Templars," Faruq breathed.
"If this gets confrontational, we may be forced to flee," Altair warned.
"No food?" Sarah whispered.
"Sorry, Shabah. We don't know yet."
"Let's hope they aren't in the mood to kill," Faruq muttered.
Altair glared at the advancing horses. "Templars are always in the mood to kill."