Exercise scene hilariously inspired by "Ty Parr- National Aerobic Championship Theme" and the rest by "Trevor Morris- Journey To Skyhold" (I love the scene for this in Dragon Age Inquisition and pictured it for Altaïr)
Altaïr's First Dance
Altaïr had indeed returned to find his blankets scattered in the forest after forcing Malik to fetch his belongings. The assassin allowed it slide by without a peep (an acceptable consequence for his private time with Vivian) and had given him a small bundle of dead gray fishes that they'd caught back at the river. His shirt had served as a decent net to pull them out of the water and Vivian had cheered for their dinner snack. Malik let bygones be bygones at seeing their token of friendship and didn't hesitate to fry the little fishes after salting them. While Vivian hung their clothes to dry overnight, Altaïr unleashed his assassin skills by hunting a decently sized pheasant to eat. Nowadays, he sought the first bird he saw rather than wait for the plumpest to preserve his energy.
The bright hot sun set quickly as the mountains in the north helped to dim the lighting over the rainforest during its sweep to the west. Slowly but surely, the humidity dissipated as the precursor to the cold nights that would arrive. By sundown, the three companions were draped in blankets as they huddled around the warm campfire. Malik regaled a past story to Vivian about his days as a young assassin in training as she listened intently with childlike intrigue. Altaïr, however, couldn't help but bury his head in his hands with embarrassment to the tale.
"And so, with the stubborn pigeon refusing to drop the message, we followed" Malik continued with an amused grin to the image of his younger self following a stubborn brown pigeon. He and Altaïr had been placed on 'messenger pigeon duty', as they called it, for a month after a snafu that occurred during their first leap of faith attempts. Having your complaints echo through the ravine surrounding Masyaf was not what the instructors taught and seeing two students bicker on who would go first had earned them punishment. Vivian's green eyes were illuminated by the fire's glow as she imagined everything in her mind as he went on, "You've seen the scholar's library and the grand master's space is above them. That pigeon refused to come down from the coop so I grabbed a chair to guide it down but it decided to fly down onto Al Mualim's desk instead. Imagine our horror to the idea of it soiling his paperwork and Altaïr quickly batted it away as he resembled a hissing cat."
"They're natural enemies" the assassin reasoned since animal sounds tended to work in frightening certain prey. What bird wouldn't be frightened of a large being hissing like a predator? It would've worked on him if he'd seen a horse do the same!
"Of course, it decided to go back to the top of the mosaic window and we had a staring match for about two minutes" Malik laughed at remembering the little orange beady eyes staring back at him as he stood next to the grand master's desk. He still remembered having to clean a poop stain or two to hide what transpired. The dai shook his head and flicked his thumb towards Altaïr, "He had the bright idea of flicking rocks despite there was a glass window underneath the bird so I decided to climb up the wall to lead it back down. Altaïr kept an eye out for anyone as I managed to inch my way closer and I reached out in the hope of prying the message off the bird's leg."
Bringing his thumb and forefinger together, he sighed aloud as he fell back into that old memory, "I was this close in grabbing it before it decided to fly away. . .all the way to the wooden beams of the ceiling. At that point, I was ready to skewer it on a knife and replace it with a new similar pigeon to be done with it. Altaïr, however, had a different idea."
Vivian looked to the man sitting beside her and he chuckled softly to his old hubris, "I decided to chase after it. Using a nearby chandelier, I managed to climb my way to the beam where the blasted bird decided to preen its feathers. However, the closer I moved, the farther away it decided to walk on the beam. I chased it over at least four beams before the pigeon decided to fly down onto the bookcases of the scholars."
"At this point in his life, Altaïr was not the type to read books so he'd never stepped foot in the library more than twice a year" Malik pointed out to set the stage for the climax of the story and the assassin nodded to his old mindset. He spent his days in either the sparring fields or the horse stables, not cooped up reading 'ancient drivel' as he'd called it. Malik raised his index finger to point out how he'd been one step ahead of the hotheaded assassin back then and deliberated, "On the other hand, I did, and often borrowed books to read about the geography and history of our lands. Because of this, Altaïr didn't know that certain bookcases had been deemed brittle from bug infestations and were due for replacement soon."
Vivian's eyes widened as she started connecting the dots and met Altaïr's gaze to murmur, "Tell me you didn't."
The assassin could only manage a halfhearted grimace to her expression.
"I saw his intent to leap down onto the bookcase and was halfway through my protect when he launched himself into the air to follow the pigeon" the dai declared with mortification and raised his arm as he'd done that day. He could still remember yelling no the second Altaïr shifted his entire weight to legs and shook his head with pity, "It was too late to do anything at that point and I watched in horror as the second he landed on that bookcase, it collapsed and broke into several pieces. Books scattered everywhere as Altaïr landed on his back, cursing the pigeon aloud, while I stood in shock to what had just happened. How were we supposed to fix that? I wasn't about to be in trouble for someone's lack of critical thinking."
"What happened to the pigeon?"
Malik smiled impishly since he'd been the hero of it all and continued, "While Altaïr groaned pitifully over the stack of books-"
"I feared I had been speared by a random piece of wood- it was a normal reaction" the assassin cut in swiftly when remembering the sharp pain shooting down his back. He'd had purple bruising all over his upper back and his head had hurt horribly into the night. After that accident, it took years before he willingly stepped foot into that library and remained wary of all the bookcases. The last thing he wanted was to withdraw a book and have the entire bookcase collapse onto him.
The dai ignored his excuses with a comical thinning of the lips and answered her question, "I saw the bird on the rocky ledge at the top of the stairs where I was and I grabbed the nearest cloth I could find. Quickly, I threw it over the pigeon to prevent it from flying off and I grinned madly when I felt it flapping against my hands. I'd never moved faster in my life as I hurled the pigeon into the coop, tore off the message from its leg as it tried to bite my fingers, and placed it on the grand master's desk. Afterwards, I found Altaïr below as he crawled out of the mess and told him I'd be fetching the master scholar to inform him that the bookcase had collapsed. The rest I left up to him as I cleaned my hands of his mistake."
"Can I just mention that past Altaïr is nothing like current Altaïr?" the assassin piped in since he felt like grabbing his arrogant past self by the neck to throttle him.
"Of course, which is exactly why I make fun at his expense" his friend replied with a smirk since the hubris of the man had caused a lot of chagrin during his own assassin days. He had probably been the only assassin (besides Abbas) that wasn't swept up in the gossip and throng of admirers of how gifted Altaïr was. He kept true to the creed like an honorable assassin and didn't hesitate to point out the mistakes the younger man was making along the way. They had shared missions together and from that, developed the odd friendship that eventually led him to resenting, despising, forgiving, and reacquainting himself to the man he could now call his grand master. Turning to Vivian, he allowed a rare glimpse to the past life they'd shared, "Did I ever tell you that I strangled him over a rooftop once?"
Her eyes widened to the idea of the calm dai choking the famous assassin and balked with disbelief, "No! What happened? I want to know!"
"Calm yourself, little badger" Altaïr chuckled to her enthusiasm as he remembered that day as well and laughed softly into his right hand. He still remembered his friend's enraged face as his thumbs dug into his windpipe to cut off his air. True, it wasn't funny back then due to his requirement of air to live but he could laugh at it now. Patting the top of her head to quell her excited fidgeting, he placed his hands outwards to warm them by the fire.
Malik grinned since he had stories that could fill a book from his years working alongside the man and told her, "That will be for another day."
She pouted dramatically as her shoulders slumped and widened her eyes into saucers for a little pity morsel. How could he tease her like that and leave her wanting more? A sadistic dai, she'd never imagined that day! Malik laughed at her childlike expression and summarized the key points of that tale, "Let's just say he cost me a target with his arrogance and I strangled him in my rage of failure."
Vivian gasped at the horrible scenario (remembering the blasted mission failure screen) and smacked Altaïr on the right arm to chastise, "How dare you cost Malik his target?"
"Don't hit me, you should be hitting past Altaïr" he reminded quickly as he imagined not only throttling his old self but grabbing him by the hood to chuck him off the nearest cliff. Everything that had belonged to his past self (minus his robes, weapons, and bed) had literally been tossed out the window of his quarters towards the river below the cliffs of Masyaf after Al Mualim's death. Of course, in hindsight, he should've given a few things away that others might have needed (like the carving knife he'd borrowed from Ilias) but he'd been disgusted with himself.
"Well, you're all I have at this moment" she shot back snippily but burst into laughter for displacing her irritation. The current Altaïr was a good man, although grouchy, and he deserved a better life with his new outlook. Her shoulder nudged his playfully to add one last poke and she mumbled pitifully, "Besides, moving around is the only thing keeping me warm right now."
Huddling the cozy blanket around her shoulders like a poncho, she rose from her spot and wiggled her hips as she declared majestically, "Movement creates heat and I need as much as possible", raising her arms, she declared, "I shall rise like a phoenix from Arizona."
"The phoenix rises from ashes and it is mythical" Altaïr corrected matter-of-factly and received a yank to his blanket. He tugged it back protectively since he didn't want to be cold either and Malik narrowed his eyes to their shenanigans. Vivian moved behind the assassins to avoid accidentally catching fire and felt the tendrils of cold immediately after parting from the campfire's glow. Mimicking a 1980s aerobics dancer, Vivian waved her hands all over the place as she jogged in place. Both companions couldn't help but watch her violent spasms as she moved all over the place without any coordination. She'd watched too many funny videos on YouTube in her spare time and couldn't help but mimic outrageous dancing with a manic grin plastered on her face.
"We'll dance buck wild into the night until . . . I'm tired" she sighed morosely as her energy ran out in one swipe and the frantic dancing stopped. Moving in a simple sidestep, she wiggled her hips and imitated a smiling mime trapped behind a glass wall. Altaïr had no words for what he was witnessing at that very moment as she twirled in place with her arms making circles and her legs kicked out towards the sky.
"Don't dance like that- it's indecent!" he chastised quickly to make her stop despite the fact she was clothed from head to toe with a blanket on top. He'd never been the type to see anybody dance in his time and to see a futuristic one threw him aback.
Vivian blew a raspberry as she inched closer to his side and jutted her hips to the side as she imitated an aerobics dancer to tease innocently, "You should try it. It might shake all that internal rage off you."
Altaïr stood up to face her and threw his blanket at Malik offhandedly as his brow furrowed in challenge. Vivian smiled impishly at drawing him into her world for a brief moment and threw her blanket at the poor dai as well. Malik reacted as quickly as he could with his single arm before anything caught fire and exclaimed, "Wait, what's happening?!"
He attempted to mimic her horrific dancing as he raised his knees and clapped his hands together to follow her odd routine. Vivian's eyes narrowed as he stayed on key with her dancing and dared him to follow her hip swaying, arm flexing, and shoulder rotations. Malik's face fell into horror as he watched Altaïr mimic whatever form of dance Vivian challenged him to since he'd never witnessed such a spectacle. The assassin smirked as he followed her crazy dance routine with his dexterity and pointed out, "Why would I want to dance like a maniac? Shaking my limbs all over the place and jutting my hips?"
Vivian wished with the power of a thousand suns to have a camera just to film the best assassin of all time attempting to do aerobics dancing in the middle of nowhere. She'd done the funky exercises alongside her mother during her youth to bond with her and looking back on it; it was a fun idea to try out on the assassin. She just never actually expected him to follow her into it! Instead of breaking into a debate about it, he provided delicious amusement to her as she swung her arms to the sides before jumping to touch her feet before landing.
With Altaïr being lost to the numerous types of modern dancing, she switched her quirky aerobics dance to wiggle her butt like the adorably popular dancing bug from Adventure Time. If that didn't kill anyone from laughter to see, she didn't know what would. Their locked gazes didn't falter as he followed her movements from head to toe and she longed to have music playing in the background. The blood pumping in their veins from the constant movement created heat from the spent energy and appeared to fuel the two even further as it warded off the cold. Malik had simply been struck speechless at seeing the grand master of his order dancing. Had he hit his head and fallen into a ridiculous dream? By the creed, what was he witnessing?!
Altaïr's amber eyes pierced through the shadows due to the fire's glow as he narrowed them at his little partner in crime and declared madly, "Why would I want to look like this in public? To appear so ridiculously crude and foolish? Do you people hold no shame for this dancing? Look at it!"
To emphasize, he pumped both fists in the air vertically above his head in a classic move and pointed out, "The people who do this are sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters!"
"Then why are you still dancing?!" Malik demanded with outrage to their actions in the middle of the wilderness. Well, if they wanted to play their odd game, he'd simply get comfortable with the extra blankets.
Altaïr turned in his direction as he continued to mimic Vivian's hip shaking to the sides and replied in an equally loud voice, "Good question!"
He looked to Vivian as if she had the answer to that very same question but she simply smiled before grabbing his right hand into hers. Even though there was no music, the movements and the rush of blood to his limbs was enough to ward off the cold. . .which led him to- dare he say it?- almost liking it. He even allowed her to lead their odd body movements as he grasped both of her hands. Vivian drew him close as they jumped back and forth together, leading him to ask aloud without reservation, "Why do I feel freer? Why have I never done this before?"
Vivian smiled as he experienced the relaxing heart healthy portion of exercise rather than the adrenaline that accompanied his death defying activities. She decided to dance her own little jig alongside him, bringing a new sense of shame over the dai as he watched them dance together this time. Oh no, why were their limbs drawing closer together?! This was not how he expected to spend the night and would've lived far better knowing his friends couldn't dance. The flexibility portion could've been skipped as well when they swayed back and forth together. He did not want to see any hip gyrating or bumping chests from either of them because he knew the chemistry already existed. The only saving grace was that they lacked any rhythm or synchronicity altogether.
Despite grinning like a maniac to adding yet another highlight to her journey, Vivian chided playfully, "Because you're tough as a rock with sharp corners and deadly as a weapon with a righteous sense of accuracy."
"Would you two stop dancing before I gouge out my eyes?" Malik ordered the two since Altaïr had become enticed with the dancing rather than repelled by it. The dai preferred how it all started rather to what it was now becoming as the two appeared severely sexually repressed. It was fine to see this behavior with Vivian since she was all over the place at times but Altaïr's sanity was questionable now. He abhorred singing but now he was dancing freely?
Vivian released Altaïr's left hand to reach out her right towards Malik and beckoned giddily, "Join us, Malik!"
"This is not proper assassin behavior" he reminded his friend since they needed all of their energy for tomorrow and he'd rather use this incident in the future for humorous manipulative purposes. Who knew when he'd need to excuse himself from a droll meeting to read in the library or take a day off? The idea of dancing alongside them was lightly tempting if not for the fact that he was terrified if the two decided to place him in the middle of their dancing. He only had one arm so he was at a heavy disadvantage if they decided to use all four to keep him pinned unwillingly in their odd dance. Being stuck between both of their bodies was not a delightful idea, no matter how humorous it would be for them.
"I don't know, an Italian assassin pretty much danced his way into women's skirts like this" Vivian joked wittily as she winked at Altaïr in regards to Ezio and the man scowled immediately. How dare she remind him of the future shenanigans of his descendants? He refused to believe anyone with a drop of his blood would behave in such a manner. If only he had a generation tree from Vivian's time to prove her wrong! She pulled the assassin against her in a move that widened both the men's eyes to the close proximity. Swaying her hips and arching her back towards him to shake her shoulders, she imitated Ezio's accent as she declared humorously, "I'm gonna dance all dirtily around you and there's no way you can deny my erotic man dance."
"That broke the spell" Altaïr grimaced to the earth shattering thought of resembling Ezio and stopped immediately. He was not going to start walking in those footsteps since he was a reserved quiet man that preferred to stick to the shadows. That and he'd keep his dignity intact completely.
Vivian groaned miserably to the rotten luck since she was a dancing bug on sugar that could conga her way across the globe with minions. Confound the relaxing coziness that dancing brought! She stopped with great reluctance when he returned to the log they had all been sharing in front of the fire and pulled his blanket away from a protesting Malik. She scuffed the dirt with the tip of her left shoe and mumbled dejectedly, "Well, I can't dance by myself, that'll make me even crazier."
"There's a new level?" Altaïr joked to her quirky behavior and she gently smacked him on the back as she passed by to retrieve her blanket. Malik frowned as his cozy fun came to an end and wrapped himself up to resemble a swaddled newborn. The assassin turned to the petite woman as she fiddled with her blanket and told her with curiosity, "Fine, let me see you dance."
Vivian pouted since she wasn't made to be a one woman show and she'd probably scare him into oblivion with her little dances. A five second dance would've sent him into a flurry of outrage years ago but it had simmered down to embarrassment. He couldn't help but smirk as she crossed her arms timidly and stated bashfully, "No, you'll probably lecture me about propriety like you have since that first dance in camp."
"Vivian, you had your hands on your head and wiggled your butt as you yelled 'eh, macarena'" he pointed out flatly to her crazy antics but he loved them about her. She made life interesting compared to its true harshness as she drew him away from stress by refocusing his thoughts. The first months with her, however, had been a strenuous challenge and he grasped her head gently to joke, "I had half a mind to have you examined in Egypt."
For that jab, she decided to head into her tent while swaying her hips and resembling her best attempt at a runway fashion model on a catwalk. Altaïr noticed the different confident gait immediately and remembered those same hips meeting his own, leading him to beckon immediately, "Wait, that one- come back!"
She shut the tent flaps on him as she scampered inside to layer on her sleepwear with normal clothes as the night grew colder. Resting easy throughout the night resembling a marshmallow was far better than waking up cold and having to add extra layering. Altaïr sighed in exasperation at being denied his choice once more since his romantic river trip blew up in his face. It seemed life enjoyed toying with him. Vivian had slowly gained power in defeating him but he'd allow the badger to have that token to tinker with.
"You're embarrassing yourself, you know that?" Malik remarked flatly to break him out of that frozen spell and the assassin turned around with a glare. The dai was lucky to have a good head on his shoulders when it came to understanding women while Altaïr still treaded the waters due to his lack of exposure. He didn't have an easy way with words as Altaïr used his actions to portray his feelings and most often than not, it did not help him progress romantically at all.
"We're in the middle of nowhere, I could care less" the assassin replied sharply as he was caught in a moment of publicly displaying his favor for Vivian. He was still very new to proving his suitor potential to women, especially since he'd never actually attained a true relationship. At twenty-eight years of age, it was not something to boast at all since he should've had a wife, three children, a dog, and clucking chickens by now. Instead, he had a horse, falcon, son, and an entire order to lead- not exactly the average for a man in that time.
Plopping down on the log, he frowned at the fire for getting the short end of the stick in life. Huddling the blanket closer to his neck for warmth, he peered into the fire to distract himself away from the cold and told Malik, "We will never speak of my dancing ever again."
"We will if it reappears in my nightmares" the dai replied dully to what he'd witnessed that night and the two men silently agreed to never speak of it again.
The night was colder than the previous as they moved closer to the north as the mountains retained the cold breeze brought in from the ocean coast. Malik had snuggled in cozily into his bed and fallen asleep within minutes after the endless chopping they'd done. As the campfire burned right outside their shared tent, Altaïr and Vivian laid awake in their bed of blankets as they huddled together for warmth.
"I always pictured Madagascar with suitable weather for sleeping" she mumbled miserably as she tried to keep her teeth from chattering. They didn't want to awaken Malik so they kept as quiet as possible while resembling caterpillars in their separate bedding. The pictures she'd seen during school had sunny weather so foolishly, she'd believed the weather would a breeze to stroll through. Of course, she'd forgotten that she was living eight hundred years in the past in a different physical realm entirely! Altaïr's disappointed expression to her optimism led her to reply with logic, "Then again, we came right after a dangerous season and are very lucky that we aren't floating at the bottom of the sea right now."
His expression turned deadpan as their eyes met and he muttered flatly, "You do know we're returning home on a boat, right? And you're telling this to someone who considers the sea an unfair foe?"
"You're the only one awake that I can whine to" she reasoned with a cheeky smile before curling up against to utter an apology. She wanted him to tackle the ocean without fear, especially now that he was capable of swimming. He offered a thin smile since she was usually the one hearing his complaints as of late and fanning out those flames. She looked to Malik's cocooned form as he slept soundly in the cold and she sighed morosely, "How does he sleep so well in this temperature?"
"He doesn't complain" Altaïr pointed out as he wiggled his toes against the blankets to allow the warmth seep into his bones. He was not looking to lose circulation to his limbs during the night after being particularly attached to his body parts. She nudged his side with her elbow as she huddled close to him and he chuckled, "Sleep next to me so you don't freeze during the night."
"Oh, but I just found a warmth pocket" she groaned miserably as her fingers poked between the fabric his tunic and an undershirt he'd layered underneath for extra warmth. It was bursting with body heat and she wished she had that shrinking potion from Alice in Wonderland to make herself tiny and find refuge. Altaïr said nothing as she practically caressed his side for warmth and heard her boast with cheer, "Nice delicious body heat."
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders to tuck her close to his side and she latched on without reserve as he felt like a hot oven. Besides, it wasn't just her own body she was caring for; their little bean inside her also needed warmth (probably). Her lean body molded against his easily as her legs aligned parallel to his as her torso rested against his side, her arms tucked neatly between them while her head touched his shoulder. The goofy little smile on her face spoke volumes on her gratitude and he remarked dryly, "You are a piece of work, you know that?"
"Would you love me any other way?" she teased playfully but had done some growing up since the first day she arrived and almost two years later, had managed to find family with the two men. Altaïr had transformed from a hostile assassin to a compassionate man before her eyes (okay, the homicidal tendencies lingered but whatever) and she didn't regret her quirkiness for a second. They balanced each other and she embraced it wholeheartedly with appreciation.
Altaïr thought the same of her in his own mind as she'd wedged herself into his most intimate of emotions and allowed him to grow from that. He remembered walking the beach shore where they had been a simple man and woman with no duties to the world- a rare experience for any assassin. Her personality was the polar opposite of his but their ideals were exact and he agreed, "You've been whiny, sappy, rebellious, bold, insane, kind, meek, and disguised yourself into personalities that I think nobody has topped . . . but I still would."
She found herself speechless since she hadn't expected that kind of sentence and snuggled closer to his side to keep warm. All she could utter was a low and squeaky, "Oh."
Altaïr said nothing but held her close to ward the cold away from her body, appreciative of the physical contact. He would miss those moments greatly but shoved it all to the back of his mind to ignore it. A smile touched his lips when her nose brushed against the crook of his neck and he teased quietly, "Another of your smell tests?"
"Yes, and you've passed with flying colors" she replied with a playful tone of admiration and sighed softly to the warmth he provided. With her bundle of blankets and an assassin with the body heat of an oven, she was darn cozy. The tip of her index finger traced over his jawline as she smiled against his neck to finish, "Like any true grand master."
With that said, she uttered a content sigh that was almost squeaky as she huddled against him to sleep. Altaïr smiled to himself as the horrible weather brought them closer together and closed his eyes to see if he could join his friends in dreamland.
The middle of the second week found the trio at the end of their rope as they reached the specified area that the Apple of Eden had designated. Altaïr had been willing to set the forest ablaze as the heat became insufferable but his team quickly reminded him the entire island was a rainforest. Unless they wanted to burn into a crisp and doom mankind, they would have to bear the temperature. Malik had taken charge, as usual when the assassin's short fuse blew, and split the area into quadrants like they'd done in Lake Victoria. Due to the dense forest, however, they couldn't split up to scope out each quadrant alone and their search suffered.
"Even though Egypt caused me to lose my beard, I prefer that setting over this" Malik muttered to the miserable environment as they called an end to their morning search. Popping open the cork of his canteen, he drank the water with the thirst of a camel. Dry scorching heat was so much tolerable than humid baking-in-your-clothes heat.
Altaïr had pretty much abandoned his assassin robes for the brown version that Vivian had sewn for him back in Sudan. He had undone the seams at the shoulders to create a sleeveless look that allowed his skin to breathe more comfortably. Although he preferred to cover his skin completely, Mother Nature was forcing his hand unwillingly. His weapons, however, remained exactly where they were to maintain his carrying capacity. He couldn't lose the strength he'd gained as an assassin, after all.
"Vivian, lemon!"
The raven haired woman had been munching on her sliced cucumbers as she sat on the grass. Her cross legged position was reminiscent of a young child, especially as she used both hands to devour her lunch snack. They had to ration their salt since it was added to all of their supper meals so all she could do was use the tiniest sprinkles to give them flavor. Her companion, however, was accustomed to using lemon on his slices (she blamed herself for enabling that) and she explained gently, "We don't have any. We used the last one days ago before it spoiled."
His amber eyes blinked at being denied his favorite snack and Vivian fought the temptation to go 'awww' to the oddly adorable look. She'd never seen him appear lost! As he sat on the log with his plate of sliced round cucumbers, she offered an apologetic pout. Seeing as he would have to live with tasteless cucumbers for the rest of the trip, he simply shoved a bundle of four into his mouth without a care. Vivian's eyes widened comically to his disturbing manners but he merely shot her a warning glare in return.
Seeing as the two assassins needed a break from their work, Vivian finished her slices in under a minute to take advantage of their break. The humidity was already leaving sweat in places it shouldn't have been in and she grabbed her pack to head west from their temporary spot. The assassins were quickly on alert to her leave when she reached the first tree, mostly because they sought a decent break, and she justified, "A lady needs to tinkle. I'll be fine, I have my weapon."
Pushing branches aside, she headed onwards to a safe distance to take care of business in privacy. There had been instances when Altaïr had actually followed to make sure she was safe and the mortification of being caught with her breeches halfway down her knees had been enough to push the two into awkward silence for hours. Seeing each other naked in the heat of passion was one thing and a whole other field when one was about to use the bathroom. Nowadays, she gave herself five minutes before actually doing anything at all- even if her bladder demanded satisfaction.
Her right foot struck something and Vivian fell forward from the surprise bump in the road. Quickly, she turned to the side with one hand automatically reaching over her lower abdomen to protect her little peanut. For the first time, she wasn't thinking as Vivian, the adventurer, but Vivian, the first time mother with an assassin baby in the belly. As for the rest, she didn't have time to react and her shoulder took the brunt of the damage from the fall. Pain shot up through her left side with her cheek throbbing in agreement and she rolled onto her back to relieve it.
"Don't you worry, you've got a mama badger protecting you" she promised her little bundle and patted her lower belly in encouragement. She wouldn't let them down since they were an innocent party brought along for the ride. She'd take full responsibility for everything that happened and hoped to high heaven that she hadn't screwed up her peanut's future life.
She took a few seconds to compose herself and let the pain dull before sitting up on the dirt. Examining what had caused her to fall, she found a black stone poking above the earth with dust gathered on its round top. How odd. Did marble exist this far out and close to the surface? Curious, she brushed her fingers over the stone to clear it free of dust and leaned closer for inspection.
"Is that dirt caked into stone?" she asked aloud to nobody in particular as crevices were outlined within the rock. Using the side of her fingernail, she decided to do some amateurish archeology work and dug out the caked dirt. Some was easy to remove but the rest was so old and compacted that it was stuck in the creases. She wasn't willing to dig deeper and risk a cut that could lead to an infection. Blowing against the crevice to remove the dust brought an interesting surprise and she mused, "Huh, blue lines."
Glancing around the area, she wondered if there were any more similar protrusions in the ground. The grass covered the majority of the earth so she could only dig around the stone with her fingers since she had no knives. Her friends, however, had at least two on each limb while all she had on hand was her staff weapon. . .which wasn't really helpful. Standing up, she decided to use an old cartoon classic move and used the blade of her weapon to draw an X over the area. Better than just doing nothing, right?
The blue lines weren't teal like the others seen within the temples but still, it was something worth investigating. Like a busy beaver searching for twigs and debris for her dam, Vivian scoped out the area scrupulously bit by bit. Minutes rolled by as she ran her fingers and the tip of her weapon over the earth in the hopes of finding something else. The wonderful thing about being on a team was that Malik pretty much drew his map into their minds as he broke down each area for them. At the moment, they were near the center of the location, slightly off to the west, due to the dense forest. If there was a temple somewhere in Madagascar, Vivian wondered whether it was above ground at all or maybe it had been erected against one of the mountain regions. If it was the latter, they were screwed due to a lack of climbing gear.
With it being her trip home and allowing her team to reach the half point of their journey, she was determined to find a clue. This had been their destination since hearing of it back in Egypt so there had to be a clue somewhere on that island. Looking to the endless tree line surrounding her on all sides, she sighed morosely with slumped shoulders, "And back to the sea of green."
Without much to lose, she decided to head northwest since their current path would lead them north anyway. They highly doubted the temple would be near the coast due to the rise of villages in the area and nothing suspicious was detected when they inquired about them at port. Otherwise, a village worshipping a hunk of rock or a building itself would've drawn them straight there. With all the crazy hijinks she'd witnessed since leaving Masyaf, anything was possible.
"Man, they make this look so easy in movies and games when you're given a target or zone to scope out" she grumbled as she squeezed her way through the protruding branches. Kicking her feet to ensure vines and bushes didn't tangle around her legs, Vivian used her weapon to slice through the flimsier foliage. The fact that pesky and possibly poisonous creatures could latch onto her to exact their revenge also hastened her movements. Madagascar was truly a hidden gem as forest shrouded everything from sight and Vivian could only ponder at how humankind had scoped out the majority of it in her time.
A sudden jerk to the right shoulder led her to angle the tip of her staff to cut it down but her eyes widened at seeing human fingers on the other side. Jumping bananas in chocolate sauce! A yelp of surprise escaped her lips to the unexpected sight but when she heard a familiar 'Vivian!' attached, she followed the arm with her eyes to find a face.
"Altaïr."
He was none too happy about her wanderlust as he pinned her in place by the shoulder and stated swiftly, "You were taking too long."
"I think I found something" she informed helpfully with a small smile and his irritation disappeared. Most of it stemmed from worry that something could bite or injure her in the dense foliage but her safety and news were a welcome update. His grasp on her shoulder loosened as his fingers lightly touched her hood and she spoke with optimism, "I wanted to head north in this area to see if something pops up- no pun intended."
"Show me."
So much for the bathroom break.
The duo had quickly returned to the dai to lead him to the newly discovered area and they decided to set camp there for the day. With their arsenal in tow, both had been surprisingly delighted to know the dai had an archaeologic edge. Due to his time with the scholars, he had often volunteered to retrieve artifacts of their order and understood the process of unearthing old objects. Although he didn't have proper tools, he improvised with his carving knife, a cloth, and a round rock. Reluctantly, they had allowed Altaïr to touch the stone in the hopes that his bloodline would activate something or forward information to him. After a climatic minute with everyone holding their breath, they called it quits with Altaïr grumbling about extinct beings that needed their asses kicked.
Malik had quickly broken down new areas to explore and Altaïr suggested he stay behind to retrieve whatever was in the earth. The dai was none too happy at the possibility of something happening while they were away but Altaïr smugly rebuffed that he lacked the magic touch to activate anything exciting. For the first time, he stepped aside from leading them as Malik took over base camp and he handed over control of the search to Vivian due to her discovery. It was odd relinquishing leadership into the hands of others but he trusted them.
. . . Although, an hour into the search and he was ready to head back for more cucumbers.
"Is cucumbers all you think about?" Vivian demanded with a flabbergasted face as she climbed a steep hill with her hands and feet. She didn't want to risk falling down and injuring herself so she'd take the safer road. Altaïr, on the other hand, practically sauntered his way up with his flexibility and strength. Meanwhile, she had to spit out and blink away dirt as sweat threatened to irritate her eyes.
"When it's this hot and I can't kill a Templar, eat a lamb, bathe, make love to you, hold my son, or find one of these blasted objects- yes, I do" he retorted smartly as he paused to count off each of those items and her eyebrows rose to almost meet her hairline. She didn't expect that much self-disclosure and the assassin merely shrugged as he stared down at her, "You asked."
He grasped her right hand and her eyes widened immediately to the fear of tumbling down. Quickly, he tightened his grip to ensure he wouldn't do anything stupid and explained, "Put all of your weight on the leg that is higher and raise the one below as high as you can for the next pull upwards. You're allowing the hands to do most of the work here- it should be the opposite way."
Vivian listened to his suggestions and pushed her weight into right leg to raise herself. Her odd crab walk towards the top hadn't exactly helped her to match his speed and he'd stopped to teach without breaking a sweat. Slowly but surely, the repeated method he'd explained helped her reach the top. Altaïr managed to get his footing on the hill first and pulled her up by her right arm as she smiled nervously to the trek. She'd never really climbed anything at this point in the journey and quickly walked forward a few feet to ensure the earth wouldn't crumble behind her.
Altaïr watched her scuttle by and heard her sigh in relief to the lack of thick trees on top. Flimsy trees littered the hill as sunlight pierced the land that rose from the hill while the trees below, where they camped, were not privy to the bright rays. Vivian couldn't help but admire the scenery as it changed completely to a more delicate atmosphere and pulled him forward by the right hand. The terrain was smoother to traverse and Vivian kneeled down to notice the grass was thinner but in greater number than the one below along the coast. Altaïr allowed himself to be tugged along as he observed the landscape as well and Vivian explained bashfully, "We've never really held hands at all. I always wanted to try it and now I can as we walk together. It's, uh, much easier when people aren't trying to kill us or we're about to pass out from exhaustion."
Her fingers intertwined with his to feel the familiar callouses of his skin and she murmured with a hint of melancholy, "It's what normal civilians would do. Better late than never, right?"
He smiled faintly to her admission since he would accept whatever she was willing to give. Her hand was dainty and nowhere near his in size, almost resembling an adolescent due to her height, but he cherished it. Those same hands had tended to him when he wasn't at his best and did a far better job at sketching drawings for his codex than he ever would be. With a fond squeeze to her hand, they pushed forward with a faster pace now that the tree line thinned.
The further they headed inland towards the north, the more rounded the land became. Protrusions of brown earth littered open areas of grass when the tree line thinned into almost nonexistence and Altaïr had to help Vivian climb onto plateaus since there were no accessible walking paths to the top. Vivian landed on her butt on the fourth climb and she caught her breath as the path they'd taken from camp appeared miniscule below them, "This . . . I've never seen terrain like this. It's all over the place elevation wise."
He helped her stand up as the sun beamed down on them with full strength but the humidity had disappeared completely with the lack of tree life. Altaïr could see the beginnings of the mountain region to the north in the distance as it hugged the eastern coast. Turning to the west, the land remained flat and they continued the trek towards the next rotund knoll. A few yards into their walk, a glint in the earth caused both to cover their eyes as the sun reflected sharply off it. With keener eyesight, Altaïr headed forward to investigate to see if it was a piece of glass or metal embedded in the earth.
"Vivian!"
She hurried immediately to the sound of her name to see what he'd discovered. Finding an item like this would be near impossible and fortune didn't exactly tend to shine on them. Her eyes widened slightly at seeing the similar stone that she'd found but this one had distinct sapphire blue lines running between the black stone. Could it be related to the other one? Surely, random pieces like this weren't common all over the island. He looked to her with determination as signs began to arise the further north they headed and stated, "This cannot be a coincidence."
Kneeling down, he touched the unnatural material but he sighed despondently at feeling nothing in return. Whenever he touched the ancient technology, it lit up but he could feel it reaching out to him like an old lullaby. Well, didn't he have the most rotten luck as of late? Standing up, he pointed towards the rounded earth to the north and ordered, "Let's keep going."
Vivian nodded quietly as they continued their search but reached behind him to rub his back in circles. He turned to smile for her comforting touch since he did tend to become aggravated at being misled. Her soft voice comforted his worries as she reminded him, "We're onto something and that's better than nothing."
Ten minutes later, the two cursed the heavens when the entire land below their target sight suddenly ignited in reflection. Vivian closed her eyes immediately and wished for sunglasses as the sunlight of the afternoon offered no remorse for their stinging vision. She used her hand and parted her fingers slightly in order to see in front of her as they carried on. However, when they began tripping over the shiny stones, Vivian sighed aloud with exasperation as she caught her footing, "Is it just me or does this species have a tendency for pissing off its descendants?"
Altaïr was about to agree but he narrowly missed tripping over a rock and decided to use his eagle vision to see whether a change would occur. The second his field of vision turned blue and he gazed at the items that had been blinding their gazes, he pulled Vivian behind him to spare her sight. The sun's reflection had been removed completely with his gifted sight and he told her, "I can see them."
"See what?"
"Vivian, I believe we're standing on the temple."
She halted immediately to what he'd just declared but she couldn't see through his eyes. The stones were dark in this vision but the lines lit up just as they had in the temple of Isis to clearly display their unique technology. The sun was too bright to allow a better glimpse from their distance but his eagle vision allowed him to see large vertical protrusions in the distance as the earth failed to engulf all of the beams reaching for the sky. How tall had this temple been during the prime of its existence? He looked to his companion to see her odd mixture of blue and white (which had yet to fade with time) to explain, "I can see pillars in the distance but it's exactly like it was in Egypt. The coloring is different in these lines but I'm not sure why."
Carefully, he led her through the field littered with peeks of the old temple but he needed to see most uncovered portion first. If he could understand the architecture of it, maybe he could find the entrance. It would be incredibly tricky but he needed to retrieve the item and return Vivian to her time. The closer he walked to that temple, the faster her hand would slip from his but he promised her a return home before even developing sentiments for her.
As if reading his thoughts, she squeezed his arm as she walked behind him to protect her eyes. Altaïr decided that time was of the essence now that they discovered the condition of the temple and directed her, "Climb onto my back, I'm running towards it to save time."
Years later, Vivian would happily recount the time she rode piggyback like a happy squealing piglet while the man mimicked the Roadrunner. The sun didn't even affect the man's speed once he was determined and Vivian clung to his back like a baby koala while covering her eyes against his shoulder. The man was a formidable force to be reckoned with after hours of hiking and now this. Their boat trip over the Indian Ocean and trek north of the Madagascar coast had finally led them to their goal after everything they endured. Altaïr was not about to let opportunity slip through his fingers and kept his sight locked on the tallest spire ahead of him. The sun was completely obscured in his vision as the remnants of the old temple lit up with their familiar outlines.
Vivian peeked over his left shoulder to double check that his vision wasn't shadowing any gulches or random crevices in the earth that could hinder them. An assassin with a sprained ankle- a cranky assassin, no less- would not bode well for anyone. However, the gentle slopes of the land were all that covered the area and she snuggled against his back as her eyes welled with tears from the painful sun glare. She closed them to protect the only eyes she had but within a few minutes, Altaïr informed, "We're here."
Stopping in the middle of the field, he allowed Vivian to hop off as she opened her eyes to find stable footing on the ground. When her gaze turned towards their target, they widened at seeing pillars of varying sizes reaching for the sky. Amongst the brown earth and sparse grass, spires of asymmetrical angles protruded that reminded her of the Coliseum vault's most interior chamber. There were rectangular smooth linear pillars but others were flattened panes that blinded her with their reflection as the sun struck the metal.
Altaïr walked to the closest spire that reached his waist and placed both hands onto the hot metal. Despite the heat from the sun burned his palms, he refused to let it go in the hopes that something would reach out to him. Anything! When his skin began to beg for freedom, he released the pillar to return to Vivian as she observed the layout of the area.
"The lack of civilization and its remote location allowed us to find it" she contemplated as the rainforest hid the temple well over the ages. She could only imagine what it appeared as in its prime and wondered how the land had been back then. Did they have forests? Cities? Barren land? How close or far had the coast been?
"We're going to need shovels" he muttered flatly because they needed to uncover as much as possible to find an entrance. He didn't know where the temple began since the sea had changed elevation over the millennia and they hadn't seen anything during their climb resembling what they'd just found. Looking the lowest protrusions in the ground, he could only wonder how large they actually were and sighed with annoyance, "A lot of shovels. Perfect, this is just perfect!"
"Wow, this has tommyknockers written all over it" she murmured out of the blue since it appeared rather spooky against the natural landscape. They were standing on the top of an ancient building belonging to an extinct race that had once ruled over her species. Hmm, should she do a quirky 'in your face, human slave owners' dance in victory for not being extinct? Altaïr raised an eyebrow to her random remark since he'd been ready to throw a fit and she rambled nervously with tiddling thumbs, "It's a horror story about a protruding artifact that's apparently sentient and speaks to town residents and gives them advanced technology through their minds. However, it turns out that the mysterious 'good' unknown artifact is actually-"
"Recite it to me later, we need to start digging" he interjected with disinterest since they were already living a dangerous life. Vivian pouted as her Stephen King story time was cut short but busied herself with figuring out where to start. The area was rather large and if they were truly standing on the top, where could they possibly find an entrance?
She looked to some of the rough patches of earth as they clumped together to harden. How were her nails supposed to break all of that down? Her belt didn't exactly have a knife on hand to begin digging and she muttered pitifully, "I don't have paws or a knife."
Realizing this, Altaïr removed one of the throwing knives attached to his waist belt and walked over to hand it to her- hilt first. He was giving her a knife? Willingly? Her fingers grasped the leather hilt nervously as the action took her by surprise and he pointed out gently, "It won't sever your hand, Vivian."
"It's not that, I simply never expected to be given any of your weapons at all" she admitted bashfully since every fan coveted such a rare moment. All the ranting he'd done towards her shabby skills and insignificant strength . . . yet here they were. He trusted her well enough with one of his weapons and she treasured that immensely. With a proud smile, she tucked it into one of the empty sheaths on her right side and lightly tapped the hilt to stuff it into the closest fit.
Altaïr merely stared to her odd storage but then again, he hadn't exactly expected her to carry a knife until they landed. Her gaze met his and before he knew it, she'd attached herself like a barnacle against his chest as she embraced him. Staring at the top of her raven head, he returned the tight hug but he heard a squeak to remind him of his strength and a muffled 'thank you' resounded. Her green eyes peeked up at him as she raised her head and smiled with gratitude, "Despite your nagging, you still believed in me and I thank you for not leaving me behind in a ditch somewhere."
He smiled warmly since he'd indeed given her a chance despite his immense distrust and contemplated how far he'd come after that day. Her lips widened into an ear-to-ear grin when he joked gently, "I'm sure you would've found your way back to my side eventually."
Pulling the start of his hood, she drew him for a kiss that he returned and breathed against his warm lips, "I knew you'd find the temple, just like you always do."
Cradling her head in his hands, he pressed his forehead to hers and reminded her of his vow, "I will get you home, Vivian, one way or another."
Together, the two had managed break down the earth around three pillars that surrounded each other closely. They had far too many to pick from and Altaïr wanted to test their abilities on the ones closest to earth before tackling the largest. Vivian had suggested working near the edges were it curved to one of the plateaus below but they would have to cut through rock which was impossible. She really hoped the dead species believed in windows because if not, they would have one hell of a time getting in.
"If these temples were meant to protect both our peoples, windows would've defeated the purpose" he rationalized her hope for an easy way in and she frowned at the black stone. Their hands were completely dusty from delving into the earth with their fingers to pull apart fused pieces of earth, leaving clumps in their trail.
"I blame the sun for my silly ideas" she chuckled softly as the sun continued to shine down upon them while shade eluded them. How could archaeologists bear this every day for hours? She didn't even know how long they'd been there but she followed Altaïr and she'd call it quits whenever he did. Well, unless she really needed to pee somewhere since going behind a pillar would not exactly portray decency on her part.
He wiped sweat from his brow as he kneeled down to stab his knife around the pillar to loosen the dirt around it. As he continued to work, he murmured with light amusement, "But silliness is part of your charm, remember?"
Vivian wedged out dirt from beneath her fingertips after pulling out stubborn roots and grinned impishly, "Is this your way of flirting with me, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad? In the middle of a hot day while unearthing a lost ancient temple with our bare hands?"
"Do you prefer me to woo you with a meal after destroying our enemies then?" he replied dryly since he knew his cooking skills were atrocious. More than likely, he'd send her to the outhouse while she cursed the raging internal war he caused within her insides. His life as an assassin had not provided him the time to learn how to woo and court a woman but assumed he couldn't be too bad if he managed to nab Vivian's interest. Most women would've stared at him with confusion if he gave them a knife as a gift but Vivian had gushed all over the place with bashful thanks. She was an odd one but then again, so was he.
She bit her lower lip to muffle a laugh at the thought of Altaïr playing chef in Masyaf's kitchen. He'd probably use his hidden blade to slice vegetables in midair for added flair. His affinity for salt would have him pouring handfuls into bowls and imagining him using parkour to move pots and tend to fires. . .damn, where was her sketching book when she sorely needed it? Offering a lopsided smile, she raised her dusty hands as she leaned back to tease fondly, "Grand master, please, how could I possibly dare to ask you to flirt elsewhere when we're on our knees getting dirty already?"
He balked to her wordplay since that was not what he wanted to imagine while he was covered in dust. The heat penetrating into his back from the sunlight had been ignored until that moment and he felt his face grow warm underneath the hood. Vivian chuckled with amusement to his flustered expression since he was reserved with anything remotely intimate unless they were hidden away somewhere. Her dust caked hands grasped his as he pulled on a stubborn rock and she admitted caringly, "You're perfect the way you are, you'll always be a little rough around the edges and ridiculously prudent but you wouldn't be the same without it."
He dotted a small kiss on the apple of her cheek for the words before seizing her lips. The success in finding a temple stirred a celebratory mood and his companion was the perfect one to lavish. Vivian smiled in between their kiss to comment that he tasted like salt and before he could pull away, she covered his lips with hers for an open mouth kiss. Did he think she'd release him just for that? He was a living weapon and it didn't bother her for a single second what he smelled or tasted like- he was her champion, which was all she required. She felt the happiness in his body language as she held his hands and returned the kiss to display her own excitement to their success. He wasn't tense at all and could feel the relaxed muscles in his hands rather than the normal taut sensation from his watchful nature.
A moment later, he broke away when a wet splat hit the back of his hooded head and he stood up in front of her for protection. Did those blasted lemurs return out of nowhere with reinforcements?! He expected to face a wild animal but found himself staring at a frowning Malik instead. A foot from Altaïr's back, there was the culprit and burst orange fruit that had struck his backside.
What the. . .?
"I knew it!" the dai accused with triumph at pinning the elusive assassin with his long held assumption. For all of his friend's nagging and denial, he knew his gut feeling hadn't steered him wrong. That, and the man had left one of his journals in the open on a page that reminded Malik of their adolescence all over again. His friend was great at concealing information regarding their order but his personal life . . . he really needed to stuff his diary under a pillow or something. He retrieved another round fruit from his robe's pocket and aimed it at his head as he demanded protectively, "You get away from Vivian before you tarnish her honor."
Vivian's shoulders slumped since she'd chosen a very good protector back in Lake Victoria. It was only a matter of time before he'd discovered their little secret but now that she was at the end of it all, her heart sought Altaïr more than ever. It yearned for him whenever he was gone for hours and the thought of having those hours turned into eternity was agonizing. Thankfully, Altaïr was tall enough that she couldn't see Malik's expression at all since a mad dai did not bode well and heard Altaïr reply, "I tarnish nobody's honor!"
"You have a child at Masyaf with Maria and you're wrapped around her like an amorous octopus!" Malik pointed out matter-of-factly since he preferred the two being open about what was occurring rather than hiding. One day they were together, another they weren't, and he pretty much lost count on the in-between's. He wasn't the type to even attempt giving relationship advice but his friend sorely needed it at the moment.
Vivian snickered to the idea of a white hooded assassin octopus with cartoon hearts for eyes but cleared her throat to pipe up, "In his defense, he's like an eagle. When he wants something, one way or the other, he's going to get it."
Malik grimaced to the haughty smirk the assassin shot his way because Altaïr was nothing but extremely persistent.
"You get to this spot right now, young lady" the dai ordered as he slipped into his big brother shoes and Vivian pouted from behind Altaïr. She couldn't disobey her friend, especially when he was looking out for her. With a fond squeeze to his lower back that remained private between the two, Vivian stepped away to rejoin Malik with an innocent wave of the hand. Her friend lowered his arm to place it on his waist in the classic 'father does not approve of your prom date' stance as she skittered over to his side.
"Why aren't you looking out for my honor?" Altaïr questioned indignantly to being tossed aside in favor of Vivian since he'd been his friend first. Malik pinned him with a deadpan look for the question since the man was closer to his age range than Vivian. His friend had a strict honor code but when it came to sorting his love life, it was tossed aside as Altaïr took matters day by day.
This time, Malik flung the fruit at his right shoulder for the wisecrack and reminded sharply, "You're our grand master so you should already have some sense."
Altaïr merely scoffed since his current decisions hadn't backfired horribly and couldn't help but point out smartly, "Sense isn't the same as honor."
"At his moment, you lack both" Malik stated bluntly as he tried his hardest not to laugh at his nonchalant responses. No matter what reply his friend retorted with, he would always be one step ahead with a quick comeback.
Before the two could argue further under the scorching sun, Vivian butted in with raised hands to ask what her first thought had been, "Wait, how did you find us all the way up here?"
Altaïr nodded in agreement quickly and the dai merely straightened his posture to deliberate easily, "Simple, I tracked your steps. You hid your tracks extremely well, Altaïr, but Vivian. . ."
Her shoulders slumped as her ego deflated like a whoopee cushion and she mumbled dully, "Yes, I sorely lack that finesse."
"It was a fairly easy climb but this environment has been untouched for centuries so a mere disruption in the earth kept me on your path" he summarized with a confident grin as Vivian's eyes ogled him with admiration. Altaïr was quick to remind her that he was the leader in their outfit but wasn't keen on irritating the dai further.
Vivian flicked her thumbs towards the dai and questioned Altaïr with awe, "Is he seriously your best assassin or what? This man tracks, gathers intel, picks locks, hell- he picked fruit from a tree with one arm!"
"Yes, he's earth shattering tremendous" Altaïr stated sardonically when the woman practically had stars in her eyes from the admiration. He had the strangest compulsion to draw her away from Malik and tell the man to find his own minion. Crossing his arms to tilt his head to the side in a hint of success, he informed his friend with pride, "By the way, we found the temple."
Malik wasn't impressed with the peacock display and calmly stated, "Good. Otherwise, I would've been chastising you both for frolicking in the dirt like adolescents as you placed priority on physical pleasure rather than saving the world. It was why I left base camp after securing its position to make sure we were on the right track."
Vivian completely ignored the fact she'd been lectured as well and couldn't help but dote sweetly, "By the creed, this man is going to make the best father in the history of . . . ever!"
Altaïr face palmed and quickly realized he'd used his left hand, removing his arm away from his eyes immediately. Assassinating himself was not on today's agenda and quickly chastised his small companion, "Unless you've forgotten, we're all adults here. Well. . . most of us by size alone."
"Hey!"
Malik observed the foreign architecture and agreed instantly that it was nothing of what any human culture had erected thus far. The formations were similar to his first experience in Egypt inside the empty vault and wondered just how tall this building was. How much earth and new life had grown over the ancient temple to obscure it from sight and time?
Back to work mode, Altaïr treaded forward to point in an arc over the field and stated, "I can't activate nor communicate with any of this. I left the pieces of Eden in my pack back at camp-"
Malik fished out a brown sack from the knapsack he'd carried through his hike and handed it to his friend. The dai offered a friendly smile and reasoned, "I figured you'd need it."
The assassin nodded with thanks as he tied the string over the thin leather strap of his sword belt to keep it safe. They could finally say they were back on track with their mission and he suggested, "I want to uncover as much as we can today so we should make camp against one of the walls to have protection against the elements. We should find an area with trees to help us with the tents as well. Let's move the camp and I'll hunt something down along the way for supper."
"And afterwards?" Vivian piped up to draw a map for the new agenda of the day and he flicked her forehead for forcing him to plan ahead.
"We uncover what lies beneath."
A/N: I can finally rejoice at graduating and am now ready to take the state boards next month (of which, I am so incredibly nervous). I apologize for the lack of updates but leading a fundraising team to help children with HIV (we raised $1,700!), planning our pinning ceremony (which registered nurses get apart from a normal graduation), passing my exams (along with a exit exam from the program itself) and being put on night shift at a telemetry unit from 7pm-7am kept me sooo busy. . . but I loved it! And I'm so happy I can write again bit by bit- I have so many other stories to update. I can't believe I've gotten to Madagascar in this story, I never would've thought of it since my first chapter when I was nervous whether or not to post this wacky story. Both Vivian and Altaïr have grown in comparison to the start while Malik's patience has reached a whole new level.
Thank you, thank you to my reviewers and readers (old and new!) for continuing to follow this story:
Failisse: Unfortunately, when it comes to women- especially physiological matters- Altaïr is a lost puppy. He's a master with subjects pertaining to his profession but babymaking is not one of them. haha. Malik will definitely draw the conclusions about her pregnancy like a good detective and the results will be hilarious. I love your questions about the story so much! Altaïr is a very good survivalist but emotions is a new ballgame that he is slowly adjusting to and it's hard for him to lose the lifeline that's been helping him. The 'why' for Vivian being there will be answered in a few chapters, maybe two, they're getting really close to entering that temple. It is quite freaky with those ancient beings and Ubisoft tended to drift away from them a bit but this team will be uncovering more since those beings love to play chess with time in my mind. The story will definitely take a more serious tone than how it first started as well so hopefully, I'll take it down a smooth road everyone will like.
No more fanfictions: I know what you mean, I read this story over again during one of my toughest semesters last year and she's definitely matured from a loud tiny spitfire. The time and culture shock left her so petrified that she laughed her way quite a bit but as she slowly adapted, she learned from the assassins to tone it down. I gathered insight from my best friend, who was in the military, for shifting a civilian modern day character into a war torn era in the past where you don't know whether you'll live to see another day. Vivian is definitely heading to that rough spot once more in the upcoming chapters.
Seeking Love: Thank you so much for loving the story, I love hearing from new readers! They're quite the humorous but friendly trio and I tried my best with Vivian to make her acceptable to both us and current the time setting. She's far from perfect but thank you for liking her and the two awesome assassins.
Thank you to Hack Generation and SnowCat21.
Next Time: What Lies Beneath
"Vivian!"
Altaïr called her attention as he noticed her slumping over a mound of dirt from their accumulated digging. She stood upright immediately since a bout of nausea had caused her to close her eyes and lean against the comfy earth to subside it. The assassin crossed the distance between them in no time and grasped her elbow to help steady her. His eyes examined her from head to toe to ensure she hadn't injured herself while working in her own corner and asked, "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I just . . . felt lightheaded is all" she hesitated with a weak smile as she pushed away the dizzy spell. The heat and nausea did not mix well together and water rationing only increased the chances of dehydration. Altaïr wasn't assured by her statement and his protective side was drawn at the possibility of an illness. She and Malik shared a look of amusement when Altaïr held up two fingers and asked her how many he held up. He caught her eyes wandering and demanded she tell him if her vision was changing, which prompted her to describe everything in sight to reassure him. He was more than ready to send her straight to their tent but she insisted, "I'll be okay, it passed."
"Take a rest in the shade and drink water- use my canteen if you need to" he ordered gently to make sure nothing was wrong. Vivian couldn't help but smile as he examined her one last time with narrowed eyes (catching the dilation of his eyes as he used eagle vision) and popped open her canteen while he played father eagle. It was heartwarming to see the concern over her wellbeing rather than have him completely ignore her, like he used to ages ago. He pointed to the nearest shady spot closest to them where he could keep her within sight and stated, "Go sit down for a bit, we'll be fine without you."
She smiled to his concern but the words rang true for the upcoming future without her. They would carry on with their dangerous journey and she'd be home in a cozy bundle of blankets in her own bed. It wasn't very comforting to visualize it since her friends deserved a vacation of the ages after years of commitment to their order. The quirky badger didn't want to leave the elusive eagle assassin and cunning fox dai to tread on alone, mumbling softly, "Yes, you will."
She scurried off to find a mound of dirt to plop down onto as the soft earth adjusted to her butt comfortably. Ah, there was nothing better than comfort for one's derriere. With a happy smile, she fiddled through her pockets for a handy snack to munch on to ward away any future nausea bouts. Sometimes it helped while at other times, it provoked one- either way, it was a 50/50 risk. Altaïr caught her perusing through her robes as her tongue stuck out sideways comically and warned, "This is how you get that trail of ants in your tent when you constantly leave snacks in all of your clothes."
"One can never have too many friends" she replied cheekily to the numerous animals that had crossed her path to be spoiled by the leftovers of their camp food. True, Altaïr had caused the demise of about 10% of those but she wanted to offer a few meager bites to them. The assassin furrowed his brow to where life had led him with that little woman and never would have imagined that she'd be the one to ensnare his affection. She held up her prize as she fished out an old piece of hard candy bought at the port and smiled brightly, "It prolongs longevity."
Somehow, he heavily doubted ants would lengthen her life but admired her ridiculous optimism. It was a trait that had slowly trickled into his personality since she had been infectious with it upon meeting. She caught his skeptical gaze when she began sucking on one corner of the dark square and teased gently, "Then again, you're supposed to live pretty long so beats me what your secret will be, given that life expectancy here is like 31. I'd like to know if you'll be a mellow senior or an ornery one."
The thought of turning old without her didn't have the same joy as it did from day one. The long month onboard the boat had accustomed him to her shifting during the night and waking up to a mop of her hair peeking out of the blankets. Who would be there to hear his grumbles and soothe his crankiness in the morning hours? He didn't want to lose his other half and laugh at an inside joke that could no longer be shared. How was he supposed to bear that for the rest of his life? He couldn't even tolerate it when they'd had their depressing 'we're painfully ignoring each other' moments. The idea of a mellow old man was feasible only at her side because the latter would exist without her guiding hand and he mumbled listlessly, "Probably the grumpy one."