Broken Blade
ch. 5
"No Room for Pride"
It was two days of straight riding. No attacks. No Saracens. And not a single Templar to be found. Tahneen's instincts were practically screaming as she constantly scanned the horizon, all the while ignoring her partner's complaining. "We've been riding for days now, Tahneen." Altair was grouchy as usual, never failing to show his mood. Tahneen once again ignored him, something she did quite often for the past two days. This only made the eagle angry. "Stop ignoring me, you useless hag!", Altair spat, his lips curled in somewhat of a snarl. Tahneen was on him in an instant, pulling him down off his horse and to the dusty ground. "Now listen here, you arrogant ass!" The female's deep forest eyes were blazing as she held him down. "I don't care if you think you're Allah or even God, himself! We are partners now. So suck it up and deal with it!" Tahneen's teeth were bared in a threatening growl, almost animal-like. Her eyes bore into his own, daring him to retort. Altair only stared up at her with surprise, then anger, but he remained silent. After a few minutes of intense silence and glaring, Tahneen sighed heavily, heaving herself up off the man. "We'll ride for a few more miles then find somewhere to camp for the night." He only answered with an irritated grunt. The best answer she was going to get and she offered him her hand. Altair just glared at it and hauled himself up.
Tahneen let her hand drop back to her side. "We'll never get along...Will we?" Suddenly, she stiffened. Something inside her was screaming at her to move. To run. She quickly spun around, touching the hilt of her sword. Nothing. She saw nothing. Only the usual flow of villagers and merchants. Or what looked like it. "Tahneen...we have to go." Altair's voice was cold, sending a shiver up her spine as her name was forced from his teeth. She glanced back at him and saw his eyes. They were slightly brighter. Their usual topaz hue now bright gold like the eyes of an eagle. "Altair?..." Her tone was questioning and was answered with a slight nod. She tore herself from his eyes to once again scan the area. Her blood ran cold. She had traveled this route many times before and had never seen any of these people. She could even hear a slight but audible clinking as they walked. Templers. The assassins didn't hesitate. By the time the templers stripped themselves of the civilian clothing, they were off. Barreling through them without a second glance. They pushed their tired horses through the small settlement until Altair's eyes once again became cold, "Shit. They have archers ready!". "What?" No wonder Tahneen's instincts didn't shut up. She stared ahead, searching for the archers when an arrow whistled by her head. "Tahneen! Move!". She never heard his warning in time as the archer aimed from the panicked crowd, firing a well placed shot into the fleeing assassin's shoulder blade.
Tahneen yelped and clenched her eyes shut, pushing back the pain and focusing on riding. A few more arrows narrowly missed them as they galloped out of the village. Altair slashed the last two on the outskirts with ease, his anger well hidden behind those cold eagle eyes. After what seemed like days, the two finally slowed, eventually taking refuge in an old abandoned house. Tahneen painfully slid from the saddle, stumbling on her unsteady feet. Strong hands gripped her shoulders and she turned in surprise to see the harsh golden gaze of Altair. "Sit down." It was more of an order than a request, but she didn't have the strength to argue. She walked to the back of the shack and clumsily sat down, flinching as pain shot through her arm.
She didn't realize that she had dozed off when Altair stalked in, gently shaking her good shoulder to wake her. Tahneen woke with a start, wild eyes staring at the male assassin until she realized she was safe and calmed down. "Turn around". Once again, another order and again she didn't argue. Altair inspected the entry point and grimaced. "Altair...". Tahneen's voice was surprisingly soft, making him jerk from his pesimistic thoughts and stare intently at her. "Will you please...clean and sew the wound?...". Altair could only stare in response, the usual cocky statements escaping him. "She's...'asking' me?". Altair stared for a few more seconds and nodded. Tahneen reached up and pulled off her hood, revealing her face to him fully. His breath slightly caught in his throat as he looked up. Her hair was slightly curled with a mix of chocolate and dark brown intwined in the waves. Her skin, fair like his own. Showing that she was obviously not Arabic, but European in blood. He quickly shook his head and got to work, wrapping his fingers around the arrow's shaft. "This will hurt. So try not to move.", he asked, trying to speak with as much gentleness as he could muster. He counted to three and quickly yanked the arrow from her back. Tahneen slapped her hand over her mouth just in time to stifle her painful yelp, hoping no Templers were near by to hear. Altair then quickly grabbed some fresh bandages from her bag and pressed them hard on the wound, earning a pained hiss from Tahneen. "I'll try to sew it the best I can. But don't expect much." "I won't.", Tahneen half growled, pain still evident in her voice. Altair wanted nothing more than to spout some snide comment, but surprised himself by holding his tongue while he began the tedious process of cleaning and sewing.
"Dammit, Altair! Curve 'with' the needle not straight through!" Altair scowled angrily at her. "I told you! I'm no good at this healing thing!". "Yeah. Not shit.", Tahneen grumpled flinching and hissing in pain as Altair finally finished. He then grudgingly stuffed the tools back into the pouch and hid the soiled bandages, huffing and glancing down at the girl. Tahneen just sat there and hugged her tunic close to her chest, glaring up Altair. "Can I have some privacy please.", she growled, referring to the fact that she was practically half naked. "Now!" Altair just rolled his golden eyes and stalked out, heading for the grazing horses. "Tch! Women..."