B"SD
Neither Assassin's Creed, nor Harry Potter belong to me.
Chapter Eleven
"Here we are," Ezio inhaled sharply, setting down his share of the wagon load. "San Gimignano."
"Seems like a lovely little place," Hermione admitted as she relieved her load.
"I'll go in and get a repairman, then." Leonardo laughed nervously, "after all, it is my wagon."
"I'll go with," Ron nodded, "anything to get away from that bloody wagon."
The assorted assassins and wizards made themselves comfortable at the gates of the small town. Ezio separated himself from the group and leaned against the ladder to the driver's seat. He grimaced and stared at the city's stone walls. The place held only bad memories for him so far. Vieri had died here, by his hand. He vividly remembered the boy's smug grin as blood gurgled from his mouth. He remembered shoving the blade down the throat that had taunted him since his birth. And what scared him most…was that he had enjoyed it.
"Thinking?" He jumped at the bushy-haired girl's voice, startled out of his reverie.
He shook his head, "A little, yes."
"You look very thoughtful," she frowned, "what's on your mind?"
"Nothing." He said dismissively. "Bad memories..."
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked, startled.
"Non importa," The assassin waved her off. "Come," he called to the group at large, "we need to find a carpenter." With that, he marched decisively up to the gate, looking as if he was determined not to hesitate.
Oo-o-000-o-oO
San Gimignano was a narrow, crowded city. The high towers that stood in almost every corner of the city and the labyrinthine streets cramped with shouting street vendors and travelers were enough to give anyone a claustrophobic fit, Ron observed. He, Ezio and Leonardo pushed their way through the crowds, ignoring the calls of the merchants around them. Ezio walked purposefully, shoving several people out of the way, while Leonardo trotted along behind him, Ron noticed. Both he and the artist had to jog to keep up with the determined assassin.
"How are we going to find anyone in this mess?" Ron wondered aloud, confused by the crowd and noise. While he had grown up visiting the narrow, crowded shopping center that was Diagon Alley, it had been years since anywhere in the Wizarding World had had any sort of crowd. Most wizards had been driven into hiding by fear and paranoia. Ron hadn't realized just how much his own experiences had affected him until now. Fear and paranoia. Yep, that was definitely one way to describe the way he was feeling right now. He found himself jumping or twitching as merchants, soldiers and citizens of the city crowded his peripheral vision. Much to Ron's consternation, Ezio was quick to notice his discomfort.
"What's the matter, ragazzo?" the Italian asked with a barely concealed smirk. "Are you not enjoying this?" Ron glared at him, refusing to rise to the bait.
"Let's just find the ruddy carpenter and get out of here," he said, his head jerking to follow the path of a man who had just brushed past him.
"As you wish," the Assassin said. With that, he slipped into the crowd, heading for a nearby stone building.
"What the-?" Ron exclaimed irritably. He rounded on the Inventor next to him. "Where's he going?" Leonardo shrugged carelessly.
"It is best to not interfere with him," he said, following the Assassin's white hood.
"Ezio is used to working alone."
"Well, that's not very bloody helpful if we're supposed to be staying together." Craning his neck, Ron was able to see that Ezio had scaled a ladder onto a low slung ceiling. The Assassin then bounded up onto a second rooftop, showing no signs of care as he ascended higher and higher above the street. "What in Merlin's name is he doing?" With some pushing and well-placed elbowing, He and Leonardo were able to make their way to the bottommost tower, blessedly out of the way of the crowd.
"I see it!" Came the Assassin's voice. Ezio now stood on one of the tower roofs, pointing into the streets far below. Leonardo cupped his hands around his mouth, leaning far back to see the rooftop.
"What?" he yelled. Ezio pointed northwards.
"There," He shouted back. "A carpenter's shop." Ron turned to follow the path of the Assassin's finger. Where? "It's further into the city, a little past the town square. It has a large sign above the entrance," Ezio continued. "You would have to be pazzo to miss it."
"Maybe from up there," Ron grumbled as Leonardo nodded happily.
"Alright," The blond man shouted up. "If you would just come down, then we'll set off…" His voice faded away as Ezio, apparently ignoring his call, turned and leapt away over the next rooftop, nimble as a mountaingoat. Ron, whose attention had been taken up by a passing soldier, only just noticed the Inventor's crestfallen expression.
"What?" he asked, then again, more suspiciously, "What?" He craned his neck up at the tower-top. The Assassin was gone. He let out a long string of curses that caused a passing monk to stare at him, scandalized. "Where the ruddy hell did he go?" Ron yelled, turning to Leonardo. Leonardo shrugged helplessly.
"To the carpenter's shop?" he said hopefully. "Or perhaps he saw something?" Ron growled in frustration.
"And he just expects us to wait here for him?"
"No, no," Leonardo said, shaking his head. "That would unwise."
"Any more unwise than just running off on his own?" Ron shouted, throwing up his arms in anger.
"Please, signore," The artist said, glancing around, "Calma, calma." Ron glared at him, too furious to speak. "I think what we should do is to find the carpentry shop that Ezio saw. He said it was just past the palazzo. It should be easy to find." Ron found his voice again.
"Oh sure," he said, sarcasm dripping in every syllable. " Simple." He kicked at a nearby bale of hay. "Never mind that he just abandoned us to wander through an unfamiliar street, with who knows how many enemies around, in the middle of the bloody Renaissance."Leonardo gave the red head a worried look. Ron looked around the crowded road, and took a deep breath trying to get a grip on himself. "Fine," he said, finally. "The sooner we find the damn place the better." He set off without another word.
San Gimignano was not a large city, but it still took a while to get around. The city was a maze, and if that wasn't enough- they passed an artist's shop.
"Ron!" The redhead jumped as he felt the inventor's hand snatch his arm, "Look! There's an art shop!"
"Not now, Leonardo!" Ron groaned, jerking back his shoulder, "We need to head to the carpenter!"
"But-" Leonardo protested.
"No!" Ron shouted, glaring at the dusty-haired man, "We are NOT getting sidetracked."
"I only wanted to look at the figurines…" Leonardo whimpered, blue eyes rimmed with tears. He turned his gaze on the wizard, who visually shriveled.
"Please?" he pleaded, looking desperate. Ron was beginning to get the feeling the inventor would break down and cry if he refused.
"…Fine…" he muttered, cursing himself, "but only five minutes."
Leonardo squealed happily and raced down to the shop.
"I'll be counting!" Ron yelled back, gesturing to his watch.
He then sighed and proceeded to a hay bale cart. He took a comfortable seat leaning against the wooden frame and waited. He watched the inventor from his perch as he picked up a beautiful hand-carved marionette. Leonardo moved his hands over it, stroking its smooth curves lovingly. At first, all was well. The artist appeared to be speaking with the vendor calmly about the doll. Then…Ron watched, eyes narrowing in concern as Leonardo's voice rose higher. It suddenly occurred to the red head that they were arguing.
Sighing, he removed himself from his perch on the hay cart and proceeded to the store.
"Che cosa?" Leonardo shouted indignantly, "You can't demand this much for a simple doll!"
"I can and will!" The vendor replied angrily, "You either pay my price or get out of my shop!"
"Oi!" Ron interrupted tiredly, "what's going on here?"
"None of your business, coglione!" the seller snapped.
Ron raised his eyebrows but said nothing.
"I simply want to purchase this figurine," Leonardo explained, puppy dog eyes look returning to a lesser degree, "The way its arms and legs move is nearly vital to my painting!"
"So? What's stopping you?" Ron asked cynically.
"The price is ridiculous!" Leonardo muttered, "But…I need to buy this!"
"The price is not ridiculous," the merchant insisted, "it's normal around these parts."
"Taking advantage of travelers just visiting," Leonardo shook his head, "it's disgusting."
"What did you say?" The vendor asked, eyes narrowing.
"I said-" Leonardo repeated tersely.
"-Look, Leo," Ron said, pulling at the artist's arm for attention, "You can probably get the same thing at a different stand for less."
"No," Leonardo mumbled, "I'm positive I can bargain down his price!"
"Sometimes you have to let things go, Leo," Ron replied. He was no stranger to dreams of items far too expensive to buy.
"Just give me a moment!" Leonardo begged.
"No, I think we've wasted far too much time already." Ron said decidedly and then proceeded to drag the artist away from the stand.
"Hey!" The red-bereted man protested, "What are you doing? Let me go!"
"We're going to find a carpenter now, Leonardo!" Ron huffed, "it's been five minutes!"
"But wait!" Leonardo wailed, "This could be my only chance to purchase that!"
"Too bad!" Ron shouted, dragging the artist in the direction he vaguely remembered Ezio telling him to go in. The inventor was not happy about this- he managed to break free and aimed a kick at Ron's shin.
"Augh!" The redhead cried out in pain, "What was that for?"
"What do you think it was for?" Leonardo replied angrily. The man, usually mellow and almost completely against violence was acting oddly out of character. Ron gulped- an angry Leonardo da Vinci was not a beautiful sight to behold.
"I know you're upset, Leo!" Ron rubbed his shin, "but hitting me won't solve anything!"
"Actually," Leonardo huffed, "I think that hitting you was an excellent way to release the stress you caused to build up by mounting the anxiety of buying the ragdoll WHICH I WAS GOING TO USE FOR-"
"Amici!" A familiar voice cut in and before the two could glance up they had been swallowed into a double noogie, silencing Leonardo's rant. (Leo was thoughtfully protected by his beret, so Ron was the one who really suffered)
"Gah!" Ron cried out, slithering out of the large Italian's grasp, "Get off me!"
"I leave you two alone for one moment…" Ezio chuckled, "I'd swear you two were married!"
"What a repulsive thought!" Leonardo gagged.
"I'm impressed, ragazzo," Ezio whistled, slapping a hand on Ron's shoulder- the redhead flinched, "I can almost never make him that angry."
"Yeah well, I'm a man of many talents," Ron coughed, brushing off his shoulder.
"Eh, excuse me signore?" An unfamiliar voice asked hesitantly, "where did you say the wagon was?"
"Oh, as you can see," Ezio gestured to a small, nervous man who seemed to be following him, "I found a carpenter."
"Bravissimo," Leonardo snorted, "now we may leave."
A/N: We love to make Ron angry. J
Italian Translation:
Non importa: Not Important
Ragazzo/Ragazzi: Kid/ Kids
Pazzo: Crazy
Calma: Calm down
Che cosa: What is this?
Coglione: Jerk- although I'm told it could also mean something worse.
Amici/Amico: Friends/ Friend
Bravissimo: Wonderful
