Fork in the Road (Altair/Assassins Creed)

Chapter 14

Hana looked behind her to see how far away the guards were when it happened – she hadn't seen the Master Assassin stop and turn to draw his weapon, and she ran straight into him. She grabbed onto him, not only to stop herself from falling but to try and keep him upright.

She managed to take a deep breath seconds before they plunged into ice cold water far below them and upon realizing that it was merely a shallow fountain - she sat up, coughing and spluttering as the Master Assassin jumped to his feet and hopped over the marble edge – disturbing a few people seated on the bench as he did so.

Altair quickly called for her to catch up, and the guards shouted at them as they descended the wall into the small square. Hana wasted no time and jumped to her own feet as Altair had done, her movements slowed from the water coming up to her knees and she waded as fast as she could – watching the disappearing wet white robes of the Master Assassin as he took a detour down an alley.

As soon as she was free from the water, the female charged straight back into action, following the Master Assassin's footsteps and running through the alley and out into the open. She could see his form sprinting up the steep hill and she had no other choice but to take off after him.

Her muscles were seizing up from the chill and the strong winds weren't helping her in any way. As soon as she reached the top of the hill, her chest heaving for air – she was grabbed by the front of her robe and pulled into a pile of hay, where a hand placed itself over her mouth.

She could smell him then. The irresistible scent of... she wasn't even sure what he smelled of... Altair. She blushed, and stopped herself from taking in a deep breath. Water dripped on her face, and she looked up into his eyes as a bead of cold water dripped off of the peak on his hood and onto her cheek, and her blush deepened when she realized that this was the second time they had been in this specific position. Clanking of armor became audible, and she could hear muffled voices of the guards questioning their whereabouts.

Altair waited another long moment before he slipped off of her and out of the hay cart, peeling the hay off of his sodden robes as she hopped out beside him.

"If you wished to take a bath," He began, taking one of the soaked books from his bag, "You could have waited until we were no longer being pursued."

She blushed and muttered an apology as her feet hit the floor, "I didn't realize you'd stopped." She looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun was beginning to set.

"It is no matter. We need to set up a fire," He stated, "We'll catch a fever in these sodden clothes."

They returned to their horses, both had started to shiver from the cold and were quick to pull their hooded outer robes off of their bodies and pull blankets out of the saddle bags and around their shoulders to keep themselves warm. "It is no longer safe to sleep at the inn tonight," Altair stated, mounting his horse, "We shall have to take it in shifts to sleep, because of the dogs."

They cantered along the road before stopping once they were a safe distance away from the small town and those guards. Hana set to work at collecting some extra pieces of firewood as the Master Assassin lit the ones that they already had, and once the fire was lit and the horses were untacked, Altair handed her the blanket that he had wrapped around himself. She was quick to shake her head in rejection at his offer, not wanting to be selfish. Instead, he shrugged and threw it around his shoulders once more as he handed the female her bedroll off of her mount.

Hana lay her thin futon out before the fire, opposite the Master Assassin - dumping her bag beside her before digging around inside for her spare wet clothes. She lay the pieces out before the fire as she retrieved some very clean fruit.

"Here," The Master Assassin handed his blanket towards her once more, to which she politely declined again. "I will not offer again."

"I'm the reason we're wet in the first place." She replied, handing half of her orange over to the Master Assassin as he joined her beside the campfire.

They ate in companionable silence before Altair spoke up, "I suppose I should have told you why I offered you my blanket?"

She paused, one segment of orange halfway towards her mouth as she looked towards him, suddenly a little worried, "Why?"

"A white shirt," She didn't miss the smirk that teased his lips as he popped a piece of fruit into his mouth, "Becomes translucent when wet."

The female looked down and sure enough, her shirt and bindings had left nothing to the imagination. She felt her face burning redder and redder with each growing second, and she slowly brought her knees up to her chest to hide herself. She didn't know what to say as a response, instead, a small embarrassed laugh escaped her lips.