I'm really enjoying this story. Arturo is one of my personal favorite characters, so I had this short piece in mind for a while.

Disclaimer: I don't own Assassin's Creed.

Arturo and Casca had gotten used to life in the small settlement. There wasn't much to look at, but they patrolled idly most of the day, following the same paths several times over. Things were all around quite comfortable, even though Arturo was still recovering from his previous injury. Though it might have been because he had developed a habit of rubbing it when he heard wolves howling, a surprisingly poetic gesture from someone so far from that description.

In a cliché twist, things didn't stay normal for long.

Casca had left for the city the day before, delivering some papers to one of the captains within the main areas. He planned to return the evening after leaving, spending some time in the city and visiting his sister. This left Arturo to his normal schedule, just without the conversation his friend normally provided.

That morning a higher ranking officer handed him a bunch of posters depicting criminals, and told him to place them around the settlement, and on some ruins nearby. Arturo complied, working fairly quickly as he put up the posters. He thought he might have recognized some of the faces, but couldn't remember exactly who they were or where he'd seen them.

He turned behind a building and put up one last poster, keeping a few with him in case he saw any other places to put them during his patrol. He walked back along his usual route, coming behind the building again an hour or so later.

The poster was gone. Arturo scratched his head and sighed, putting up a replacement. He made sure the nail was in a little better that time. Giving it one last good tap, he nodded while examining his handiwork before walking back around for another couple of hours.

It had disappeared again. Definitely torn from the wall this time. Arturo looked at the wall for a moment, puzzled, and put up another poster, using extra nails to keep it there. Probably just some kids playing a prank…

Then it happened again. He started to put up another poster, muttering a curse or two.

Members of the Borgia have never been accused of having good observational skills. If they had, Arturo would have seen the figure perched on top of the building, and might've been able to dodge faster and avoid the solid hit to his shoulder, which also smashed his healing injury into the ground along with most of his face.

The assailant grabbed his posters and got off our poor, unlucky "protagonist". (According to most authors, this would be the correct term. Others aren't so sure.)

Protagonists, antagonists, and redshirts aside, Arturo was shocked and slightly terrified. He heard the person drawing a blade and rolled quickly, trying to get back on his feet. White robes caught his eye as the sword was brought down, and Arturo lifted his spear to deflect it. He jumped to his feet and backed away defending against a barrage of attacks. They weren't necessarily well-aimed, and he'd fought better in training sessions, and that's probably what saved him.

He fled, going toward a larger group of guards. It didn't help that he heard his opponent muttered, "He always gives me the easy jobs."

Also didn't make things much better when he realized it was a woman.

So he was left stumbling over to a group of his fellow guardsmen, his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He pointed in the direction that he'd come from, but wasn't exactly able to get out any information at that moment.

"What is it Rossi?" One of them asked, though Arturo couldn't place his name.

"A woman..." More panting, "Jumped off the roof…"

Another one looked a bit concerned, "Is she alright?"

"Tried to kill me…"

The last one wasn't so concerned, "What did you do?"

Arturo gave him an exasperated look, "I ran."

"I see that! I mean what did you do to make her…?" He stopped when Arturo held up a hand.

Finally getting some breath back, he supplied, "I was putting up posters and she jumped on top of me. Took my posters and drew a weapon."

"You were overtaken by a girl?"

"She surprised me…"

"And why are you telling us this?" The same not-so-concerned one asked.

"I thought you might want to know there's a killer wearing white robes running around."

The other guards believed him, to a point. Arturo wrote up a report on the situation, which the Captain barely skimmed, earning himself the rest of the day off. He could have sworn his superior had written down "Medical Procedure" and something about head problems, but tried not to think about it too much.

Sure enough, Casca returned that evening to find his friend idly relaxing near the nearest doctor. He stopped and gave him an "are you kidding me?" look, "So who did you bribe?"

Arturo thought for a moment, and then responded with a sigh. "Just promise me you won't put up any wanted posters for a while."

Casca smiled, and knew better than to ask.