Trench Rabbits

It had been several days since I was originally taken from my dwelling in the brothel, and I had already begun to feel at home amung the brotherhood, if a little intimidated. These were people who could topple governments, shake entire countries to the core – and yet here I was, picking up empty wine glasses from the communal areas.

My residence had since been moved from the old marketplace after I had awoken, and I was to spend the next few weeks living underground, in the dark, with the rats. Obviously; I had opposed this notion heartily, and it was altered:

"No! I will not spend my time living in some hovel beneath the city." Tenacity flowed through my voice and I was practically screaming as I spoke.

"Then you will spend your time living in a cell!" It was Cheng who had spoken, then. She was a just a girl, younger than me, and very loud – she tended to rush tasks, and made simple mistakes frequently. But, she was an apprentice, and had the experience of a soldier at only sixteen. Her childish mistakes didn't surprise me; after all, she was still a child.

I laughed, though, at the irony of her words. "Would my time underground not be the same?" I looked to Cheng, and stared her down, even though she was still of a higher rank than me, and deserved the respect of such, I refused to bow to her now, and our next minute was wasted by further shouting each others opinions in the dirt.

Eventually, Jun, who had been silent the entire conversation, raised her voice: "Silence!" We both obeyed, and returned to our previous positions. "Flavia, you will stay underground." I scoffed, glancing to notice Cheng's arrogant smirk – at this, I scoffed again. "And I will train you."

"Whoa—Wait a moment. As soon as this dies down, I'm going back to Italy." This was only a half truth – while I had no plan of returning to Italy, I did plan on leaving. I couldn't help the ache that Jun's look gave me at that moment, however, and I felt a conflict within me. I wanted to stay, to make her proud of me – she had called me a legacy – but how could I? Every law enforcement officer ten cities across, each way, wanted me caught, and I doubted whether I was alive or not mattered to them.

I heard Jun take a breath, and she looked to my eyes for a moment. "You would throw away everything that you are?"

"I vaguely remember you saying I was anything I chose to be."

There was a silence. After a few seconds, Jun signalled for privacy, and Cheng, Zhu and another assassin I had not yet met left the room, shutting the door behind them. There, in that stillness, I felt as though I could almost feel what Jun's look had meant – the anguish and pain of my rejection.

"We are losing this war, Flavia." Finally, she spoke, but it was so soft I could barely register it. "There are so little of us left now... You can leave, if you want. But, at least let me give you the skills you need to survive."

I thought for a moment. "You sound like my father." Smiling, I wandered away from her and the intensity of having her so close to me, and settled by a nearby table, using my closest hand to lift a filled cup of wine that resided there. "He'd always blamed himself, it wasn't until recently that I knew why." I took a sip of the bitter drink and swilled it around my mouth for a moment. After growing up on Italian wine, everything else seemed to pale in comparison. "It's hard not to blame yourself when it's the ones close to you who die."

By this point, Jun appeared as thought she might cry, but in a second, the expression had disappeared and she was looking me dead in the eyes once more. "I prefer to celebrate my living friends, than dwell on deceased ones." I lifted my glass in response, taking another sip. "So you'll stay?"

I couldn't help but smile; "For a while." In a second, we were both grinning together which broke into laughter. I think it was something we both required after just weighty discussions.

Though, the move didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Not at first. Jun had decided that I require a bodyguard at all times while living in the hideout, and housed me in her own room, along with herself seeing as she had placed the task upon herself. We would not spend all my training hours underground, and the more experienced assassins were wary of strangers. Though it was against Jun's wishes – there was nothing to stop an overly cautious Master from taking my life, if they deemed it a necessity.