Assassin's creed one-shots

Altair Ibn-La' Ahad

Still a Master in my eyes

''I'm not a traitor,'' Altair argued with confidence as he struggled against the guards holding him in place.

Al Mualim was standing before him, blade drawn as he apologized. ''Your actions indicate otherwise,'' he disagreed and proceeded to lunge his blade into Altair's side. The other grunted, falling to his knees as the other assassins watched in horror.

''No!" A female voiced echoed in the crowd, a fellow Assassin holding her back when she tried to reach him. Ushered away, she watched them carry him away. ''Release me!'' She fought, but to no avail. When they finally let go of her, the dust had already settled and there was nothing she could have done. When all of the shock had left her, tears began to form at the brims of her eyes as she fell to the ground, now completely alone.

Next few days, the pull on her heart strings was just to strong, ridding her of all concentration. Somebody else stood before her, attempting to train with her. But she would simply ignore his scoldings for sloppy cuts and shaky hands. Anger arose within her but she managed to contain it. The anger towards all of the Brotherhood, how everything moved as it should even without their Master Assassin gone. Like nobody ever cared. But she did. However, even at the mention of him, she would only get grunts and insults.

''Get over it, novice,'' they said, pushing her away. Standing up from their table and throwing away the remaining of the food she had, she headed away. Once she was outside of the fortress, she scanned the sky above. With the sun out of sight as it was ready to set, she made her way to the ramps where leap of faith is practiced from.

Once there, she sat down and watched the sun die behind the horizon, painful memories flooding her thoughts. She felt tears roll down her cheeks. The fortress did no longer feel like home to her, after the countless hours they spent just sitting there and watching the skies and hills below. Closing her eyes, she tried to just imagine how it would be now if he wasn't gone.

Stars began to appear in the sky, she's lost a track of time as she finally opened her eyes. It was even worse when she did manage to paint a picture of Altair still being by her side.

''[name].'' Even his voice was present still in her thoughts. It sent chills down her spine because of how real it was to her. Like he was actually there, right behind her.

''[name].'' Again. This time, she responded with a voice of her own.

''Stop.'' It was hoarse and weak from crying and lack of energy because the food was no longer appealing.

''Stop?'' She was sure that she imagined it. The voice from her head was actually responding to her. Thinking she was going crazy, she decided to look behind her shoulder just in case to see.

It was then did she see. After a few moments, she turned her head back, refusing to believe what she was seeing. Hallucinations for sure, she thought, refusing to look back one more time at Altair's figure completely disarmed that stood behind her. ''Leave me alone,'' she demanded. ''I know you're just one of my memories, so leave me alone.''

''I'm not.'' The voice was content, hush. As if attempting to calm her ever raising voice.

''Yes you are. You cannot be real. I saw with my own eyes how Al Mualim stabbed you. I watched uselessly as they took you away,'' [name] stood up, flickering her eyes at the supposed apparition once more. However, he was more real than she believed.

''I did too. I felt death's embrace,'' Altair said, holding out his hand. ''But it was only a delusion. A way of deception,'' he assured. ''Now, come. Take my hand. See if I'm truly standing before you.''

''How can that be? And where are your weapons?'' Skeptical, she backed away further on the ramp, now standing on the edge. With every word the man said seemed less and less real. She was about to take one last step back, but there was nothing beneath her feet as she slipped, leaving her with only a moment to grab onto the ledge. But the moment passed by her as her fingers slipped, refusing to let her hold on any longer.

However, another chance was offered as she felt a hand clasp around her wrist as she grabbed it back on reflex, her own holding onto dear life. Looking up, she spotted Altair stare back at her as he pulled her up. Gulping down a lump in her throat as she glanced back down once more, she noted that she'd definitely miss the haystack beneath and instead fall on the hard ground, had it not been for Altair.

''You're here,'' she whispered through tears and a smile spreading across her face. ''I thought I was going mad! I thought that my heart wouldn't let me live without you,'' [name] admitted as she held onto Altair's forearms, her knees weak as they stood on the ramp once more. ''Well, it wouldn't even if you weren't before me right now.'' Her gaze fell to their feet.

''I won't give you a chance to think about that,'' Altair assured, pulling her closer to him. ''Al Mualim made a fool of me once more, of us, demoting me to a novice.'' [name] sighed at his immaturity, placing her head on his chest. She was not so brave to say, but his rank was the least of her worries right now. But she still supported him, no matter the tenets of the Creed or the Brotherhood or the whole world.

''You're angry,'' she said. ''And you should be, it's not fair. It's true that you made a mistake, but it happens to the best of us.'' Looking up at him, she was met with a snarl on his lips and eyes that held fiery dissatisfaction. ''You do not need their approval, I hope you know that. They still know you are the best of the best, they're just too ashamed to admit it to the world.''

Her words seemed to calm him down as he let out a long sigh. ''You're right,'' he whispered as he placed his head on top of hers, stroking her back. The only approval he needed was [name]'s and he now realized that he'd always have it.

''And to me, you're still the Master Assassin and I'm willing to say it as many times I need to.''