The Vampire's Rise

Haemon dipped his head and then took a seat among the swarming cats. He looked at all of them for a moment before he looked back to Donahue. "Have you named them all?"

"Every cat from Acre to Jerusalem has a name, I've just forgotten most of their names. Besides, you can call a cat anything you want, and it still won't come." Bran, the injured kitten, was sleeping on Donahue's cape.

Haemon rumbled a small laugh. "Cats won't come. Dogs, however, will." He looked up at the sky for a moment before he frowned slowly, though he said nothing.

"But a dog doesn't bury its shit" Donahue said with a laugh. He knew that Haemon was after some information. "So tell me, my dear boy, what do you want to know?"

Haemon looked slowly at Donahue, his eyes blinking slowly before he said anything. "This artifact that Al Mualim now holds," he began slowly, trying to choose his words carefully. "You said he doesn't want to share it and has been killing the Templars who knows he now holds it. Why? What does he hope to gain?"

"If you had the power to control a man's mind, would you want to share that power? That artefact was stolen from us during the mission that caused Malik to lose his arm. I don't know what he hopes to gain, but it could not be any good."

Haemon remained silent for a moment, his eyes casting down toward the roof he was sitting on before they lifted up to the sky as the moon cast its light down upon them. I made an oath back at England, he thought to himself for a moment before his eyes narrowed and he cast his gaze back to Donahue. "So then, Al Mualim is corrupt," he said softly, more to himself than to anyone else, but it was directed at Donahue.

"I'm afraid so, my dear boy" Donahue said quietly as he gently stroked Bran behind the ear. He took off his helmet, folded up his cape, and set the cape inside the helmet. Bran curled up in the helmet, and fell asleep. Donahue looked up at Haemon, revealing his battle scarred face, and sighed quietly before looking up at the stars. "Do me a favour. If you must kill me, make it quick, and please look after my babies, even if it is just Bran." The little kitten covered its nose with its stumpy leg as it slept happily.

Haemon felt his heart lurch forward. It was a new feeling and something he wasn't used to. He was used to killing without feeling any remorse for it. However, hearing the pain in this man's voice pricked at him somehow. He rose to his feet slowly and looked down as his hidden blade slipped free of its holster. The sound of boots crossing on the rooftop filled the air for a moment and Haemon halted right in front of Donahue. Haemon's eyes closed for a moment and he lifted his hand into the air, as though to plunge the blade straight into the man's chest.

But the feel of armor and flesh tearing beneath the blade never came. Instead, Haemon reached the hand that harbored the hidden blade down, fingers splayed as though to take the hand of this Templar. The hidden blade had slipped back into its holster and Haemon stared down at Donahue with an almost emotionless look in his green eyes. "My Creed states that I cannot harm an innocent," he rumbled, the seemingly broken or shaped teeth that looked like vampire fangs flashing in the light of the moon. "And you've done nothing to deserve death. You have innocent blood, Templar, and that is one thing I cannot and will not spill."

Donahue was highly confused by Haemon's words. Why would an Assassin spare his life after everything that he had done? The Assassin should have ended his life simply because he was a Templar, yet he didn't.
"Why didn't you kill me like so many of your people would have?"

Haemon dropped the hand back down to his side and clenched what fingers remained into a fist for a brief moment. He stared down at the Templar and freely allowed his British accent to come forward. "You care for life," he said simply, looking down at the cats that swarmed around them. "Even if it is just a cat's life. And I've seen an unnecessary death once, as a lad. I do not wish to see it again." Suddenly, the unemotional eyes began to harbor pain, as though remembering something that had happened a long time ago.

(I'm going to withdraw David from this thread as he has no place in it anymore.)

(D: we'll give him a place! lol. it might be once Haemon returns to Masyaf though, but he'll have a place. )

"I care for the cats because of their unconditional love. Nobody else would care for them, and they can barely fend for themselves. Unlike people, animals are honest." The way Donahue spoke suggested that he had been betrayed once before, that he had been emotionally wounded. "The Assassins are probably worried about you, my dear boy."

Haemon dipped his head to Donahue and glanced around for a moment. "Erase yourself," he suggested. "In case the Master doesn't believe my words when I tell him I've killed you." He began to walk away toward the edge of the roof and then halted. Slowly, he twisted his head around to stare at the Templar, his face shrouded in darkness. "When shall I see you again?"

"I'll be on a mission for two weeks, but just follow the cats." The sea of cats seemed to have all fallen asleep around Donahue. "Perhaps you shall find me back at Acre, or at Jerusalem."

Haemon gave a small nod at Donahue's words and gave the tiniest grin, his fashioned fang-teeth glinting in the moon's light. "I shall look for you then," he said with a small nod and then disappeared down the side of the roof. The speed with which he moved and the silence...it definitely didn't seem human.

"What a strange one that boy is" Donahue chuckled quietly to himself. He eventually fell asleep.



"What do you think, Bran? Think we'll ever see that Assassin again?" Bran, who had been sitting on Donahue's shoulder, just licked the stump that was once his paw. "Ah, almost forgot, made you something" Donahue said with a laugh before he strapped a wooden paw to Bran's stump. The young cat seemed overjoyed with his new paw. He had just returned from his mission in Jerusalem. "You should have seen it, Bran. I gave those heathens a lesson they shan't soon forget." Donahue reclined in the darkness of the alleyway, and thought of his recent mission. A few cats seemed to be making their way to the alleyway.

Haemon had returned as he had told the Templar he would; exactly two weeks after their first encounter. He halted abruptly as a cat scuttled past his feet and into the night. He watched it go before looking around. He didn't need any attention from the guards or any of the civilians. Keeping his head low, he followed the cat silently and swiftly. It darted into the dark alleyway and the Assassin followed, slipping into the darkness where he made out a mass of cats all gathered around one man. "Told you I'd return." He said quietly.

An elderly tabby raced out from the sea of cats, and jumped onto Haemon, purring loudly as she rubbed herself against him.
"Well, if it isn't my favourite Assassin. I see you are still alive and kicking. How are you doing, boy?"

Haemon had bent down to pick up the elderly she-cat and rose back up with the cat in his arms, a hand stroking her across the back while his eyes fixed upon the Templar. "Well enough," he said simply. Somehow, he sounded...stronger. Just as a starving wolf feels better after a successful hunt, Haemon sounded as though he'd hunted in a sense, though there was no trace of blood on his person. "I hope none of my Brothers or Sisters did you any harm, Templar."

"After the incident at Masyaf, I've become quite a target. I had to deal with them, I've no doubt that you understand why." Donahue inspected a few of the cats, and smiled. They seemed to be healthy. "How have things been at Masyaf? I'm sure Al Mualim has become something of a tyrant."

Haemon snorted, his eyes rolling in his head while his fingers itched behind the she-cat's ear. "You've no idea," he growled, his eyes narrowing after they'd halted their roll. "Altair's not much better. Always dogging my every step, waiting for me to mess up once so he can tell Al Mualim and ground me from missions again." There was a distinctive growl to his voice that sounded...unnatural and out of place. He looked down at the elderly cat he held in his arms, her purr rumbling through his hands. "What I wouldn't give to be rid of them all."

"That's what comes of these instruments of chaos" Donahue said with a sigh. He knew what the artifacts could do, and he hated it. Something about the way Haemon spoke had struck him as a bit odd. He thought about what Haemon had said, and looked up at Haemon, a puzzled look on his face. Bran cleaned behind his ear with his good paw. "What are you getting at, boy?"

Haemon closed his eyes for a moment, hiding their apparent blood shot appearance. He took a deep breath and exhaled a long breath, his anger slowly ebbing. "Nothing," he said quietly, though the growl remained in his voice.
And everything. He thought bitterly, his eyes going back into the direction of the city's main gate.
"Have you ever hated someone so much that you wish you could kill them but your code forbids it?" He asked suddenly.