Assassins creed - Understanding

Chapter 3 - The Black Pearl

Training. It was no Templar meeting. Just training. And not for all the Templars.. Just me. Private training, alone, with Duccio. The bloody bastard is making me do training with him! I was to meet him every day at noon, and work until there were blisters on my hands and my feet. The reason? Duccio said everyone had done this. I had never seen Duccio training with anyone here, maybe Poalo but nobody else. The real reason, I thought, was because of my failure.

Me not delivering the letter had caused much trouble over Venice. Gustav and Petricco would snarl at me whenever I saw them. Rude comments always drifted towards me when they passed. I started avoiding them when they walk past. I stuck to the shadows whenever I could-But that didn’t stop them from finding me anyway. Speaking of shadows, I had not heard from The Shadow man for 3 days. I have been counting, because at the mention of my parents, he caught my attention. You wouldn’t exactly forget someone talking about your dead parents. It has been three days.. three days since Duccio announced my personal training. Three days in which I had been going out to the courtyard and exchanging blows with Duccio. My wrists ached and my feet burned, but I would not give up. I would not fail a second time.

I usually never get into fights which I need to use my sword. I never get those types of missions. Usually I’m the one who finds out the information needed for the fights. If I do get into a fight, I usually run away. I rely on my speed. I love running, and having people chase me adds to the thrill of it. Sometimes.

But why in the world would I need to sword fight? If anything, I would use the hidden blade I found so many years ago. Of course I kept it with me; it was my most prized possession. It was one of the only possessions I had left from home, after I ran away. It’s a reminder to me that no matter what I do, I will always be a member of the Chaste family. And that I am still to hunt down those who were responsible for my family’s deaths. I just wasn’t ready.

The sky was a reddish purple, and I decided to go for my training early. I could warm up before Duccio came. Making my way down the corridor from my room, I looked out the window overlooking the farm’s courtyard. To my surprise, I saw a few people in a group around the gate. One of them was Duccio. I wasn’t so bothered about them; I was just upset that Duccio was already there. How does he get there so fast? I shrugged of the other men; they were his friends, that much I knew. At a last glance, I thought I saw a ripple amongst the shadows, but it was just a trick of the light. It was just Duccio and his friends.

Once in the courtyard behind the farm, I chose to get set up. I walked over to a barrel of hay and pulled out a sword. We kept our swords in there because, just in case we were attacked by assassins, they would be easy to get to. The Templar’s knew we had swords in hay barrels, and the assassins did not. That was the advantage. We knew which barrel to take a Leap Of Faith into.

I did a few stretches and waited for Duccio’s arrival. If he didn’t hurry up, I would go and fetch him. But I didn’t want to go and meet his no good friends, and I certainly did not want to hear what they were talking about.

For this occasion, I was wearing a red and brown mask, to match the color of the sky. I often made a few masks, this being one of them.

When Duccio finally arrived, he had a grim look on his face. He looked upset about something, but he hid that face away when he saw me. Huh, was he really happy to see more, or just eager to beat me?

‘Did you lose a bet, il mio amore?’ I giggled.

‘No. Shall we begin il mio amore?’ He replied in a mocking tone.

‘Si.’

And so we began.

We spun in circles, twisting under and over, defending and attacking. We danced in our sweat, and occasionally, blood. My breaths came in pants, and I was sure I looked very un-lady like at the moment. But heck, when did I ever act like a lady? And God damn it, was he living two seconds in the future? He knew my every move, whether it be a block, lunge or sidestep. I was getting tired, but he showed no fatigue. Ma che cazzo, any longer and I couldn’t feel my legs. The sword was getting heavier in my hands. I should have taken that damn blade off my wrist before I fought with Duccio, the extra metal made things harder. I was getting hot, and I was sure my face was pink. How long had we been fighting? It was getting darker, but Duccio would not give up. Ugh, this is so frustrating!