Later that night
"Argh! Will you let me go already?"
"Oh be quiet!"
On the edge of a small river several miles in land from the bay, and the bridge that led across it to the island kingdom of Corona, Altair sat on a fallen tree trunk across from Rapunzel, who glared at him from across the fire that he had set up with piles of sticks and leaves, a small bruise mark on her forehead from where he had hit her with the wooden board in the stable. He just ignored her and looked down at the ground, uncaring of what she was thinking of him right now. Quite frankly, he did not want her to be here as much as she did not want to be here, but, as she had knowledge on who he was, he could not risk letting her go for his sake and also the brotherhood's.
High above them, the light of day was beginning to fade into the west, turning the sky a really beautiful array of colours, mostly of red, gold and orange. Just like all evenings, it was a very amazing thing to see. Soon, the night would take over the sky and fill it with thousands upon thousands of stars that would light it up like holes in a continuous black sky that the light was able to get through as if letting the world know that the darkness of the night would not last forever.
A slight moan of pain caused Altair to look up to see Rapunzel place a hand on her forehead where the bruise was, When her fingers touched it though, it stung and she withdrew her hand wincing in pain. It really hurt and it was going to be a while before it went down.
"Are you okay?" Altair asked her and she shot him another glare.
"Well what do you think?" she retorted angrily. "Oh no, I'm fine," she continued sarcastically. "My head's hurting and I have a bruise, but other than that, I'm a hundred percent. Never felt better!"
Altair just rolled his eyes, breathing out a sigh through his nose. "Very well, if you wish to be like that," he replied and looked back down at the ground. "I do not want you here as much as you do not want to be here,"
"Well then why did you knock me out and drag me away?" she shouted back at him, shooting up from the log she was sitting on, her face going red in anger.
"Because I could not risk you going off and telling your father, the king, about Salad!" he replied, his voice rising as well. "And yes, I know who you are," he added quickly before she could ask him how he knew she was the princess. "I saw that painting of you and your family and of that thief Flynn Rider in the city,"
Rapunzel sighed and sat back down on the log, glaring deeply at him from her green eyes. He just looked back unimpressively at her. After a moment, she breathed a heavy and frustrated sigh and turned away from him and placed her hand on her head to see if the bruise was going down. Unfortunately, it was not. Altair just watched her and shook her head. She would not be able to understand why he had taken her away. After all, she would do the same to him if they were in each other's positions.
Though, Rapunzel tending her wound did make him remember his. He turned over his hand to see a faint mark on his hand from where he had cut it earlier on. It still stung whenever he touched it with his finger and when he did; he had to almost clench his fist to conceal the pain in his hand. Rapunzel was not the only one feeling pain tonight.
"It will hurt whenever I use my sword now," he muttered to himself as he looked down at his wound as if it were a mark that would not go away. Even though it would heal eventually, that could take days, weeks even and with the fiasco today, there was a chance that Robert's lieutenant would have an idea now that a hooded man in the city would mean he was being hunted by the Assassin's Creed and he would make a run for it. If he did then…Altair clenched his fist tightly and shook it in anger, though he quickly released it upon feeling the stinging pain flare up his arm and through his body once again.
Rapunzel looked back over at him, upon hearing him speak, and watched him do this, but she was no longer glaring at him. Somewhere inside her, the anger toward this man, though it still remained, had subsided mostly. Now her large green eyes just looked at him with curiousness, even a little bit of sympathy. She felt questions burning within her, determined to ask him all sorts of things like who he was, what he was doing here and why he had taken her. All of it had to add up somewhere, but how and, more importantly, why?
Sighing, she got up and walked over to Altair. He looked up from his hand at her as she approached. Though he did not glare at her like she had done, his piercing eagle-like eyes told her that he was not in a welcoming mood.
"Are you feeling sympathetic now?" he asked in a questionable, but sarcastic tone.
She rolled her eyes. "As a matter of fact, yes," she told him, sitting down on the log next to him. "Look, you've hurt your hand,"
"So? What can you do about it?"
"I'll show you, just give it here," she held up her hand and he stared at it and then into her eyes that told him that she could trust him, which was amazing despite what he had done to her earlier on. For a moment, he hesitated as if uncertain about what to do but decided to comply and put his injured hand into hers, feeling the softness of her skin.
"What is it you are going to do?" he asked her.
"Watch," she replied. "Just…, promise you want freak out," she added.
Freak out? Why would he freak out? He had seen a lot of things that had scared him more than what she could possibly do that would freak him out as she put it?
"Very well," he replied, still disbelieving of what she was so scared about or what he had to be worried about.
With a little relief in her eyes, she turned over his hand and placed her other hand on it and closed her eyes. Altair watched her, thinking: "What is she doing?" in a way that was as if this was wasting his time. She took a deep breath and, with a bit of amazement from him, began to sing.
"Flower gleam and glow,"
"Let your power shine,"
"Make the clock reverse,"
"Bring back what once was mine,"
Altair just looked at her with confused eyes to why she was singing this song to him. How was it going to he-wait a minute. A dim glow began to emanate from her hands around his and it gradually began to get brighter and brighter as if it were a second sun rising out of her hands. He looked back up at her, but this time with wide eyes.
"Heal what had been hurt,"
"Change the Fate's design,"
"Save what has been lost,"
"Bring back what once was mine,"
The glow reached a bright point that Altair had to look away from in fear that he would go blind. Admittedly, a sense of concern, even full blown fear, began to fill him and he felt very tempted to pull his hand away, but he was so shocked at what was going on, he just…he could not do it. It was as if his hand wanted to stay there and, if what she was doing was true to what she had told him, be healed.
"What once was mine,"
Upon finishing, Rapunzel looked up at him with a look as if to say: "Well, see for yourself," Altair hesitated for a moment as if he was nervous something would happen to him if he looked at it. Slowly, though, he turned over his hand and went wide-eyed when he saw that the mark left there by his cut earlier on was…was gone! It was completely gone! He turned over his hand several more times, suspecting if this was a trick, but it was not. He looked up at Rapunzel once again, his mind finally realising something.
"Y-you!" he whispered, though it was loud enough for Rapunzel to hear him. "Y-you're the one!"
It was her! She-she was the healing incarnation. She was how the city had become so healthy and fit.
Rapunzel nodded. "Yeah," she replied. "Though, It's not literally me," she explained. "When I was born, my mother passed on this special healing power from her to me and it can be used when I sing that song I just sang now. It has the power to heal sick people and bring people back to life. It used to be in my hair, which was blonde and really, really long, but when Eugene, that's Flynn Rider's real name, cut it, the power…well, went into my body and…" she shrugged. "Yeah, that's it," she concluded.
"It is really amazing," Altair said, looking back down at his hand.
Rapunzel nodded. "Yeah it is," she agreed.
Silence fell between them, being penetrated only by the noise of the wind rustling through the leaves of the branches around them. High above them, the last light of day disappeared behind the distant mountains and far away to the east; the first inch of the night sky was approaching. It would be dark soon.
"So," Rapunzel spoke up, looking at Altair. "Um…I know this may sound a bit of short notice and…probably even pointless now," she let out a slight laugh. "But…who are you?"
Altair hesitated for a moment, his mind asking itself whether it was the right thing to answer her question. On the one hand, he wanted to remain anonymous. On the other hand, she had just healed him and he did feel a kind of urge to…well, pay her back. What harm could there be anyway. It was not like she or her father or even the whole kingdom were fond of the Crusaders or the Templars.
He held up his hand. "Altair," he answered.
Rapunzel took his hand and shook it. "Rapunzel," she introduced and let go of his hand. "So…why are you here, Altair?"
"I cannot tell you,"
"Look, Altair, your obviously here for something. I mean, you ask me yesterday where Salad lives and today, you knock me out and kidnap me and bring me out here to the forest. Seriously, that does not happen on a daily basis. Something brought you here. Fate. Destiny…" a snort came from nearby and she looked over to see his horse tied to a tree, grazing on the grass. "A horse," she continued. "Seriously, something important has brought you here. Why can't you tell me?"
"Because it goes against the Creed," he answered, but quickly hated himself for saying that. Damnit! "Look, Rapunzel, the reason I am here is to search for something, but I will tell you why or who it is or anything else to do with it. Are we clear?"
She sighed, rolling her eyes, and nodded. "Yes, okay," she replied lowly in an annoyed tone.
"Good,"
"But wait, why did you say I was the one or something when I healed your hand?"
Altair huffed. Well, that was not as important as finding Robert's lieutenant and not really a secret. It was pretty much one already. Yes, there was no harm in answering this.
"Well, the answer to that is because when I was sent over here, I had been told of a certain healing incarnation that had made your kingdom into what it is now," he explained to her. "I had been told to take a sample of it and bring it back to my home. Obviously…I just did not expect it to be you that would be the healing incarnation,"
"Are you going to take me away?" she asked him a little worryingly.
Altair looked at her, gazing deep into her large green eyes, seeing very clearly the worry in her question. Was he going to though? He was asking himself that very question? He had been told to, but…but this incarnation was a woman, and not any woman, but a princess! Did he have the right to do it?
After a moment, he looked back down at the fire, the warmth of it embracing him. "No," he replied. "I won't take you back with me to my home,"
A sense of relief swept into her. At least that was over and done with, but what about her now?
"What about now?" she asked him and he looked up at her. "Are you going to take me back?"
He hesitated to reply for a moment. Was he going to though? After all, he did not have any more use of her, but if he did let her go, who was to say she did not suddenly start telling everyone who he was and that Salad knew who he was? It was just unpredictable.
"Well…" he began, quickly trailing off for a moment. "Will you tell them about me?" he asked her.
She paused for a moment, thinking over his question, and shook her head lightly. "No. I promise I won't tell about you and Salad knowing each other,"
"How can I be sure though?" he pressed on, now turning his whole body to face her and moving closer to her in a sort of intimidating way, but she held her ground.
"Because when I promise something, I never, ever break that promise," she told him confidently. "And by never, I mean never!" she added.
Altair looked at her for a moment, debating what she had told him. Who was to say she was lying? He had a slight feeling that told him that as soon as he took her back, she would turn him and Salad in. It was very risky after all, but, then again she did sound very confident and firm when she told him she never broke a promise.
After a moment, he withdrew. "Very well," he said lowly, believing her but still having her doubts.
Silence fell between them once more. Altair picked up a small branch on the ground near his feet and tossed it into the flames. The glow of the fire lit up the clearing they were in like a light and he watched it burn as if it were taking away his current problems but also reminding him of his mission and that now he was going to have to improvise. How was he going to get back into Corona if the lieutenant of Robert was still there? More importantly: was he even still there? For all he knew, he could have left by now and was probably miles away. If he was, then Altair's mission here was completely pointless.
As Altair went to look back up at Rapunzel to ask her something, the horse suddenly looked up in the direction of the bushes with a nervous grunt. The two heard him and looked over to see him looking edgy.
"Is he alright?" Rapunzel asked.
"He's nervous," Altair replied, having seen this many times before with horses he had rode to different places. He knew their feelings almost instantly as soon as he laid eyes on them and fear was once that he knew very well as it displayed itself very easily. He slowly got up from the log, looking over to the trees, his hand gripping his sword, his ears open like a gazelle out on the African savannah, listening out for danger.
"Is there any-" Rapunzel asked but Altair cut her off.
"Ssshh!" he hissed, silencing her.
He took a step towards the trees, his eyes searching them like some kind of scanning device. Even though night time was settling in, it was still light enough for him to see the trees and the bushes. He searched them clearly with his eyes, trying to find out what it was that spooked his horse, but he could not find it. Maybe his horse was just being nervous.
He looked back at Rapunzel. "I cannot see anything," he told her, going to put his sword away. "It's nothi-"
SNAP! All of a sudden, Altair's horse screamed in fear and reared up as the bushes nearby suddenly burst open and a man dressed in gold armour and a kind of red sleeved top and boots with a helmet on came charging out of them, his sword raised high above him. Rapunzel screamed and dived to the ground. Altair was taken by surprise, but brought up his own sword and dived out of the way of the horse, narrowly missing a swing from the man's sword. He got up and readied himself to deflect him when he came around again.
Suddenly, a figure launched himself at him and pinned him to the ground, knocking his sword out of his hand. The two began to struggle violently in an attempt to beat the other. More guards rushed out of the bushes towards them. Rapunzel looked up and saw the man wrestling with Altair was Eugene.
"Eugene!" she cried, getting up. She rushed over to the struggling two and grabbed him and pulled him off Altair. "Stop! Stop fighting!"
"You stay there!" one of the soldiers demanded. The three looked to see it was the captain. He and the soldier next to him stopped a few feet from Altair, their swords out and at the ready for a battle. Altair grabbed his sword from the ground, ready to fight them as well, but Rapunzel stopped him from attacking.
"Altair, stop," she begged. She looked at the captain. "It's okay, captain, h-he won't hurt me!"
"I hope your right," he replied, putting his sword away. The soldier next to him did the same. Altair kept his hand on his just in case.
"Rapunzel, are you okay?" Eugene asked her, walking up to her and embracing her tightly. "God, I was so worried about you. Your parents almost died when they found out he kidnapped you," he shot Altair a glare and he replied like so. "He hasn't hurt you, has he?" he asked her. Rapunzel went to reply, but Eugene saw the bruise on her head. "Where did you…did he…die he do that?" he asked furiously, pointing at him.
Rapunzel sighed. "Yes, Eugene, but look, he was going to let me go anyway," she told him. "Now can we stop trying to kill each other?" she said loudly to make sure the others got the point.
Eugene and Altair glared deeply at one another but nodded. They were safe from each other's wrath, for now.
"Alright, Rapunzel, Eugene, let's go," the captain said to them. "And you, mister…" he said to Altair, though he stopped when he realised he did not know his name.
"Altair," Altair told him.
"Right, Altair. You come with us as well," he said. "We need to talk to you,"
"About what?" Altair demanded. "About how you're going to cut me up or hang me?"
"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Eugene said to him. Altair glared at him again and went to reply, but the captain cut him off.
"No, no! Nothing like that," he said. "It's important. I'll explain it to you when we get back to Corona. Now c'mon, let's go,"
The captain led Eugene and Rapunzel away. Altair sighed and put his sword away and followed them, the soldier on foot next to the captain and the soldier on the horse following him.