Benjamin Cloudmark: Rise of the Assassin

Benjamin was about nine when the doorbell rang. "Daddy," shouted the boy, running up to his father's study, though he hovered in the doorway. He was never allowed in the room. "Someone's a' the door!" Garret stepped out of his study and ruffled his son's hair.
  "Go find your mother," he said softly, walking down the stairs to the living room, Benjamin right on his heels. "She migh' have lunch ready." Benjamin nodded and bolted off to find his mother while his father stayed at the door.

  "Lunch isn' ready ye'," she scolded gently, waving her son from the kitchen. "Go ou' to the garden. Perhaps he'll have somethin' for you to do until lunch is done."
  "Yes, mother," Benjamin said and scampered out to the garden, pausing when he saw the door open and Garret's back to him. He could hear voices outside and grew curious. He hid himself by the stairs and sat there, staring at the door in what seemed to be concentration. He could barely make out what they were saying, but he caught some of it.
  ".....has the Sense, Garre',"
  "I don' wan' this life for 'im," his father sounded distraught somehow, but why?
  "No' your choice, Garre'," answered the unfamiliar voice. "He was born into the Brotherhood and he will become one o' us someday, whether you're here or no'."

  Benjamin turned and ran out into the garden, racing up to the black man that tended the tree in the center. "'Ello, Benjamin," greeted the man with a smile as the boy sat down beside him. "Your mother sen' you ou', didn' she?" Benjamin nodded and watched the gardener work with the plants around the tree, helping them get enough light and trimming away weeds and such that would hinder their growth. Ben stayed silent, as he usually did around this man. Then he asked something that was unusual.
  "Why is daddy gone mos' o' the time?" Rick paused for a moment before he grinned at the young boy.
  "His job keeps 'im busy," he answered simply. "Maybe you'll follow his footprin's one day."


(it's time you get a look at Benjamin, my original Assassin character who has a story of his own on deviantart.com
as of right now, it's an old story that never got completed, but you can read it by searching wildhorses101 in the bar when you get there. Go to the gallery and search Assassin's Creed: Joining the Brotherhood. It'll get a new look, name and everything on the account Dragonsor hopefully. Enjoy!)

Seven years passed by, winter turned into spring which turned into summer. Benjamin was in the garden with the flowers and plants. He had taken to the garden since he was a boy, calling it his sanctuary. The door to the house opened and then shut closed. Benjamin lifted his head from watching the birds in the tree. His father walked through the glass doors into the garden and took a seat next to his son. As always, Garret leaned forward with his hands clasped. It was a habit, as Garret often described it. "You're home," Benjamin had grown used to his father's disappearances from time to time and even grew accustomed to his emotionless greeting.
  "Aye," answered Garret with a nod, his eyes watching the flowers near the tree's trunk. He allowed a heavy silence to grow between him and his son for a while before he spoke again. "Son, there's somethin' importan' I have been meanin' ta tell ya."

  "Like wha'?" Garret had opened his mouth and taken a breath when there was a loud pounding on the door. Benjamin's head swiveled to the wall that surrounded the garden and could just make out the outfit of an officer beyond, standing outside on the sidewalk. Garret followed the teen's gaze and froze almost instantly.
  "Stay here," Garret warned softly, rising from where he sat and heading through the house toward the door. Benjamin, as usual, refused to stay put and ran to his usual spot on the stairs, his eyes fixed on the door and his father's back.
  "Garre' Becke'?"
  "Aye," there was tension in his father's voice, tension that was never there whenever the door would hold a stranger. Benjamin's heart ached in his chest, like he knew something was seriously wrong.

  "You're under arres' for treason," The second a hand touched Garret, the man reeled away and slammed the door shut hard, his fingers flying over the lock.
  "BENJAMIN!" Ben stood abruptly from where he sat on the stairs, his eyes frantic. "Go ge' your mother! Take her ou' back and ge' her ta your Uncle's in the country! NOW!" As Ben ran to find his mother, Garret raced up the stairs and into his study. The teen emerged from the kitchen with his mother and Garret came out of his study, standing at the top of the stairs in white robes accented with forest green. He was fastening something around his wrists and Ben's curiosity grew larger while his mother ran for the back door.
  "Wha's goin' on?" Benjamin demanded, stopping his father from reaching the door. Garret stared at his son for a moment before giving his head a shake.
  "I canno' tell you," he said painfully, his eyes lifting to the door when there was a loud thud. Ben's own eyes cast to the door. Behind it was the police officer, doing his best to break down the door.

  "Why?" Demanded Ben, returning his eyes to his father.
  "Because I don' want this life for ya!" Shouted Garret fearfully. Silence ruled them for a while, the banging on the door louder with each second. "Take your mother to your Uncle's. Do no' return here. Do you understand?" Benjamin nodded painfully and ran after his mother while his father flew open the door and the sound of fighting could be heard from beyond.
  "Ge' to Uncle's!" Ben shouted, leaping onto his horse's back, gathering the reins in hand. His mother rode her bay mare hard with her son following. Ben's heart screamed at him to stay and help his father fight, but his head shouted to keep running until they reach safety.

  High noon was the time when Ben and his mother made it to the countryside estate where his Uncle lived. Upon seeing his family members coming up the drive, Matthew gripped the reins of the mare. "You ac' like madmen," he declared, his eyes going to Benjamin. Ben spun the black stallion around and looked down at his Uncle.
  "Take care o' mother," he stated and spurred the stallion forward, earning shouts from both mother and Uncle. Benjamin didn't pay them any heed. He was more focused on reaching the house in time to aid his father.

  About evening was the time when Benjamin made it back to the house. However, it looked like a ghost town. The front door hung wide open, exactly how Garret had left it when he began his fight. Benjamin slid from his stallion's back and entered the house, cautious at first. Then he ran up the stairs and stopped at the door into his father's study. With a deep breath, he entered the room and looked around. Sitting on his desk was a letter. Benjamin carefully broke the seal and read the contents. It was addressed to him, like his father had known this day would come and that he would actually return to the house against his father's wishes. Benjamin looked up from the letter and looked around the room, like he would normally do with every room in the house as a child. He spotted something at the far end of the house and approached it carefully. The hidden door fell open and there, safely hidden, was his father's sword. Benjamin took the scabbard and stepped out of the room. "He was a good man, your father," the unfamiliar voice broke through Benjamin's thoughts. Standing in the living room of the house was a strange man in dark gray robes accented with silver. He was studying his arm for a moment before looking up to the boy.

  "Where is he?" Ben asked softly, travelling down the stairs to meet the man in the living room. The stranger gave a soft sigh and looked at the boy directly.
  "Dead," he answered simply. "Killed by Templars under false accusations, their specialty." At hearing that his father was dead, Benjamin couldn't believe it and felt nauseated, leaning against the wall for support. "Come. The Assassins will care for you now." The letter had described these people. Protectors of Free-will and guardians of the Pieces of Eden. The letter had also said to go with a man named Lucien Grey who would come to the house in case anything happened to Garret.
  "You're Lucien Grey," Lucien nodded slowly and smiled softly.
  "Come," he said gently, guiding the boy back outside. "The bureau will care for you now."