[closed] Beginning Anew

John had been sitting there, hoping he wouldn't be seen. A man had been standing over him, examining his hiding place, John held his breath and would of looked lifeless, before a massive "ahem" was heard and Gabe exposed himself. John frowned "What the fuck is he doing...?" John thought to himself. After a bit of convo between Gabe and the man, he heard a massively loud whistle come from Gabe's mouth. It took John about 10 seconds to realise what that meant and by the time he did Gabe was already fighting. But when he did, John lunged out of his hiding place and landed right in front of the thief that was in front of his hiding place "Hello rubbish thieves!" he screamed with a mad grin before kicking the poor guy in the balls, unsheathing his machete and decapitating him. John then quickly picked up the head and threw it right at another thief to stun him. The intention was to hit the thief in the head...with a head, but instead he threw a head into a thieves balls again, which stunned him but not as badly as he had hoped. "You decided to rob a place that was a part of my childhood... and that my pudding brains was the biggest mistake of your lives!" John shouted, while laughing before his face turned serious and he disarmed another one of the thieves and stabbed him in the heart when he sloppily tried to stab John, before he then threw the sword into the thief who had a decapitated head thrown at him. John then quickly tackled his 5th one and stabbed him right in the throat with his machete.

Then it dawned on the 5 remaining thieves...

This man had just taken out half of them within a minute like it was nothing.

((OOC: hello all! I was invited by Gabriel Winters to participate))

Kaya Menawa moved from tree branch to tree branch effortlessly. Her dark green hood and brown coat camouflaged perfectly into the surrounding foliage of the forest.

She relished the feel of her leg muscles working to keep her momentum moving forward. She loved being up in high places, she loved climbing up to them even more.

She paused and straightened herself, resting a hand against the trunk to steady herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling herself unwind for the first time in a long time. Ever since the Templar attack on her village nine years earlier, she found it difficult to let her mind rest. Today was the very first time in nine long years that she felt the tiniest bit at ease. But of course, it wouldnt last too long.

Her ears perked up at the sound of boisterous laughter and loud voices shouting. She scowled, crouching low on her perch and watching a large group of what seemed like bandits on horses. All the men were dressed in rags, armed to the teeth and carrying huge sacks of what she assumed to be stolen goods.

"What a bother...they're scaring away all the damn game..." she muttered quietly to herself. She gave a light tug on the bow on her back and held in place by its string across her chest. She counted the heads...one, two, three...fourteen.

She pondered if she wanted to just pick them off one by one starting at the very back of the line but thought against it. She decided instead to follow them to wherever their destination was.

She moved at their slow pace, hopping to a new branch when they went forward every five paces or so. She kept herself crouched low and silent, careful not to rouse their attention.

Where are they headed...?

She continued to follow them for a ways, turning down a path that ended at the base of an old house, seemingly abandoned had it not been for two horses already tied up to a post outside.

The thieves turned to one another, devious smirks plastered over their faces. One of them practically half shouting and half laughing, "Looks like some rats scurried into someplace where they shouldnt!" Whoever was inside...wasn't part of their group.

Ten of them went ahead inside while four of them stayed put, most likely on watch for other intruders.

Perfect. She could take them out easily and then ambush the rest inside. They've never come across a fully trained Assassin  and they never would again.

She waited until the last of the ten disappeared inside before positioning herself over her prey. She counted...

énska...tékeni...áhsen.

On three, using all of her leg strength,  she pounced forward. The coat tails of her brown jacket fluttering behind her, her hidden blade sliding out with a flick of her wrist.

In one quick motion she fell on top of her first victim, sinking her blade into his throat while they both fell to the ground. She could've used both of her hidden blades but she wanted to have some fun.

"WHAT THE F-" the man standing next to his accomplice didnt have time to finish his sentence before Kaya spun around and swiped her blade across his throat, blood spurting from him and splattering her.

Before the second victim even collapsed to the dirt, she swept her leg low and took the third's feet out from under him, taking her steel tomahawk out. He hit the ground hard, knocking the wind from his lungs and giving her time to jump over his body, tomahawk poised high to come down on the fourth's face with an audible crunch. He screamed until Kaya slashed his throat as well, silencing him.

The last man lay shaking on the ground, gaspung for air as he tried to crawl away from her, her back facing him.

"Where are you going...?" She asked without turning around. He yelped and scrambled to his feet to make a run for it. She spun around and hurled her tomahawk at him, landing it squarely between his shoulder blades.

He cried out, falling back to the ground face first. He sputtered, dirt finding its way into his mouth. "P-please....have mercy...!!"

She smirked inching closer to him. ""Say that again..."

"Mercy...!" He writhed in pain, begging for his life.

She drew her bow and nocked an arrow, aiming at the back of his head.
"One more time...." she said coldly.

"MERCY!" He screamed before she let her arrow fly and it lodged itself into his head.

Damn...those screams might have alerted the rest... she thought as she yanked her arrow and tomahawk from the man's corpse, hanging it back onto her belt and placing the arrow back into her quiver.

She ran quickly to the side of the house and found a dusty window to loon through. She crouched beneath it, putting her bow back in place before slowly peeking over the windowsill to see what was going on inside.

Unworthy.

That was the word that Gabriel kept repeating over and over in his mind. Unworthy. This band of thieving filth did not deserve a clean death by Reaper, or any of his steel for that matter. He kept a firm grip on his sheathed sword, hand placed on the opposite side of the hand guard. It was a carrying posture, not a fighting one. But even a sheathed Katana was a deadly weapon in the hands of a master.

Two swords came in straight for his chest. Gabriel placed his sword vertically between them and spun it hard. The top and bottom of his weapon clipped both incoming swords and twisted them off in opposite directions, throwing their wielders off balance greatly.

To one man he lashed out with his leg, dumping the bandit unceremoniously to the floor. The second, he whipped his sheathe around and struck him on the bridge of the nose. Hard.

Immediately, Gabe ducked under a third horizontal slash meant to open up his guts, coming up dragging his knee and buried it into the new mans intestines. The blow was hard enough to drop the man to the floor on all fours gasping for air.

The fourth and fifth men looked at each other and hesitated, but only for a second. Both came in slashing wildly from both sides with sword and knife.

Gabe placed his free hand behind his back and kept it there to keep it out of the way as he twirled his sheathed weapon like a baton, catching every blow and pushing it aside like child's play. The problem was that he was giving ground, back towards the men that were slowly getting back to their feet.

Finally, both men tried the same move, stabbing down at him from above. He bent at the waist slightly and caught both men at the wrist with opposite ends of his sword, keeping the blades high and away from his body. In the same movement, he lashed out behind him with one leg and kicked the man with the now broken nose, right in the face, dropping him back to the floor with a scream of pain.

Gabe twisted again, parrying the two in front of him wide. He spun in mid-stride and planted that same foot into the stomach of the man on the left. His free hand came out again as the knife came down. Again, he caught the man's wrist but this time, his fingers found pressure points and he pressed hard. Surprise and pain caught the man off guard, and it was this pain and surprise that allowed Gabriel to pivot on his back leg and spin, leading the man by his locked wrist.

At the apex of the spin, Gabe yanked down hard and sent the man diving over his feet, directly through the window where an unknown observer was watching from outside.

As soon as the glass began shattering, Gabe was spinning again. Kicking left and right with such precision that no one in the Colonies was ever to have likely seen before. In a flurry of kicks, Gabriel worked his right foot between two men from their calves all the way up to their heads in rapid succession, as if his leg had been on it's own track and kept hitting the rungs of a ladder. The move was finished as he grunted and delivered a fatal kick to the right man's head so hard that his neck broke.

The other, he grabbed kneed a couple of times, then spun him into the broken window, propelling him downwards on the single sharp shard of glass still sticking up from the frame. It skewered his neck in a spray of red.

Three down. He spun once more, meeting the man with the pulverized nose. He tried to surrender. But that time was past. Gabriel swung his sheathed sword around and cracked the man on the side of the skull. He went down, eyes dark.

The last man looked at the carnage around him and decided to make one last futile attempt at charging Gabriel. But Gabe was close to the wall again. He simply side stepped the stab, letting the sword ricochet off of the wooden wall and clatter uselessly to the floor. Gabe changed spots with the man and spun around once, pulling his kick at the last second so it didn't crush his enemies larynx. He pinned the man to the wall with his boot pressed firmly against the throat. The last man, who happened to be the leader ironically.

"M...Mercy... P... Please" he choked out.

Gabriel bared his teeth in an almost feral snarl. "Weak men always prey on those weaker than themselves. Makes them feel larger than they are. Is that what you did for all that coin? Who did you torment for that hard earned money of yours?"

"I....cackk! P... lease.."

"Big man now, aren't you?" Gabriel taunted. It was very unlike him. He had been taught not to taunt his enemies. It was beneath him. But he felt compelled to put vermin in their place. "Allow me to assist you in reaching your desired height..."

He grunted and put all of his weight forward, his legs spreading apart further as he leaned. As his body shifted forward, the leader crept up the wall, his feet leaving the floor.

Gabe only stopped when his legs were at roughly a 145 degree angle, and his enemy was 6 inches off of the floor, suspended by his neck. A few moments of that, and the man's face was blue, and lifeless. The Assassin kicked off of his throat and returned himself upright as the body hit the floor in a heap of death.

Winters looked around slowly, checking on first John, then to the rest of the bodies in the room, making sure no one was going to get up again....

He slowly slid the sheathed Katana back into his belt.

Kaya watched wide eyed, and just a tad too hopeful, at the man with the strange sword who took on five men like it was nothing. His movements were incredibly precise and fluid.

"Could he be...?" she muttered to herself before shaking her head lightly. Anyone could put on the robes, carry a sword and call themselves an Assassin but the way he moved and fought gave her reason to suspect he might be part of the Brotherhood. "Steady, Kaya...Remember, dont make assumptions they are almost never accurate. Maybe I should--"

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw this strange man fling a bandit towards the window. Her window... Her eyes grew wider as she quickly ducked her head. Half a second ticked by before the bandit came crashing through,  headfirst, spraying shattered glass shards all over her.

The bandit landed with a hard thud and a groan. He moved to try and lift himself up before collapsing again to the ground,  motionless. Kaya brushed the glass off of her while judging him to be dead and slowly peeked again through the broken window.

She caught a glimpse of another man standing around five lifeless bodies. "Could be be a brother as well...?"

Once again her thoughts here stopped short when the man with the odd sword sent another bandit careening towards the now open window. The bandit's neck was pierced by a large shard of glass still attached to the bottom of the window. Thick, sticky blood sprayed all over Kaya once again. "Great..." she thought bitterly, attempting to wipe her face and mouth with her sleeve but failing, her coat was already soaked. She spat out some blood that trickled into her mouth and was taken off guard when she felt a big, calloused hand over her mouth and an arm around her, restricting her own arms.

Big mistake. She bit down, hard, on her attacker's fingers. She was rewarded with a burst of new blood on her tongue, strangled cry of pain and a loosened grip around her before she placed her right foot on the side of the house. She walked up a few steps, flipping over her attacker and landing behind him. It was the bandit who was initially thrown through the window's glass. She didnt waste time. While he was preoccupied,  nursing his bleeding hand, she grabbed his chin with one hand and the top of his head with the other. She twisted mercilessly, hearing a loud crack before he collapsed to the ground again. This time, dead for sure.

She stood tall and proud, letting out a long exhale and spitting out more blood at the bandit's corpse.

After John and Gabe had taken the robbers out in no time flat, John simply wiped the blood on his face which had spurted out of the decapitated thief's neck and brushed the dust off his coat. "Well...that went...better than expected." John said with a simple chuckle. "Anyway, so as I was saying a second ago before these bastards decided to come in...what do you think of the place? I think with some renovating...we could turn this into something along the lines of a training facility?" John suggested, keen to start his training to become an assassin as soon as he possibly could.

John had had a lot on his mind however, since he was doubtful of whether or not he truly was ready for it or not...was he ready for it? Probably not, knowing Gabe, he had most likely been doing what he's been doing since childhood and had a lot of discipline to say the least, John had neither his experience or that discipline, so he guessed that Gabe was probably gonna be putting John through a living hell, both physically and psychologically, since it was all Gabe knew. John kinda felt sorry for him about it really...he was a living and breathing killing machine, because he was simply raised that way. John was starting to question which one of them truly was insane...

The silence was broken almost immediately. John began talking as if nothing had even just happened. Gabriel peered at his new student with his severe dark blue orbs from under his hood. Did this man think nothing of death? Death was sacred. A thing to be revered. It was the one thing that the entire world had in common.

Eventually... everyone died. The only difference was the when and how.

Gabriel was about to berate John, as his Masters had once done him. But sound of a different nature caught his attention. Previously, at the end of the fight, Gabe had had his back turned to the window. Now, as he turned towards John, he noticed that there was someone still standing up.

Wordlessly, he brushed past John and exited the back door, stepping over bodies and pushing his left thumb against the hand guard of his katana, extending it an inch, ready to be drawn.

When he stepped outside, Gabriel narrowed his eyes. He kept his head tilted down so that the shadows would continue to conceal his eyes. He took the situation in a sweep of his head.

Five corpses, one of which was the man Gabe himself had sent through the window. A robed woman with bronzed skin, hood up in similar fashion to Gabriel, covered in blood. A native? Maybe. Too much blood to tell. Evidently, he'd misjudged how many men had been riding. Most had come inside, but the other four had stayed out to stand watch. The woman came along, and quite simply.... took them out.

He left John ignored for the moment. Everything about the woman... correction, the tiny... woman, screamed Assassin. She stood perhaps not quite up to Gabriel's shoulder. There were so many questions to be asked. But now was not the time.

Gabriel had been taught to trust those of the Order explicitly. So instead of anything resembling a proper greeting. He nodded once, released his thumb from the hand guard, allowing his sword to slide back home, and replaced the katana on his hip, releasing his grip on it.

He turned his back to the newcomer and looked over one of the bodies quickly. He plucked a kerchief from the man's pocket and tossed it over to the tiny Assassin. "You've got blood on your face." He said simply, and without emotion.

Quickly, he rolled up his left jacket sleeve and pulled his gauntlet down, exposing three inches of skin. When he turned his forearm toward the woman, she would plainly see the mark of the Creed upon him, raised in scarred flesh.  

When he knew she'd seen it. He pulled the gaunt back on and returned his sleeve to it's normal position. Only then did he turn to John, who'd likely come to the door to see why he was being ignored.

"This will do John. It's small, we will have to expand it. But due to the ...timely contributions of our former occupants, I don't see that hiring hands to do exactly that will be an issue. Let's get this place cleaned up before night sets in."

Gabe was tired. Not from the life he'd been inducted into. But because of all of the unknowns. He'd been raised a weapon. Things were dealt with in absolutes. There was no gray area. But here, in America, he was presented with question after question. Problem after problem. He just wanted to go after the Templars and end their blasted order one man at a time. That is what he knew how to do.

Impatience is what got you that scar on your jawline Winters... He thought to himself.

Right. Patience. Answers would come in time. For now, cleanup duty. He'd question the newcomer later, if she stuck around. And he would berate John later.... if they survived the night. It seemed like everyone in the country wanted them dead...

Gabe shook his head in disgust and silently started moving corpses.

Kaya was too distracted with catching her breath that she didnt notice the hooded man with the strange sword come rushing towards her from the back door.

Her gaze flicked towards the light reflected off of his sword peeking out from it's sheath.

She took a small step back, widening her stance and ready to defend herself. Her hand hovered over the steel tomahawk hanging at her hip. Her other hand pulled the tip of her hood slightly, shielding her eyes more.

Several uneasy moments ticked by between them before he gave her a quick nod and his sword slipped back into its sheath.

She blinked a couple times, swiping the piece of fabric in midair with her fingers and raising an eyebrow. What sort of weird pale face custom was this...? She stared awkwardly at the handkerchief for a brief moment before the man mentioned the blood on her face.

"Oh. Right," she thought as she hesitantly moved to wipe some of the drying blood on her face.

She still wasn't convinced the threat had dissipated until she watched him reveal his mark of the Brotherhood. Her eyelids fluttered and her stance relaxed. She too undid her bracer and hidden blade to pull up the left sleeve of her coat, revealing her own mark of the Brotherhood's emblem embedded into her dark skin in black ink.

She gave a tiny smile while pulling down her sleeve and relacing her bracer, flicking her wrist a couple times to check that her hidden blade was functioning.

John silently nodded and began to move the corpses as he chuckled slightly, Gabe probably didn't even know just how many men, women...hell, even children that John had killed before he met Gabe. John's life was a life filled with drinking, fucking whores and killing to get to do the first two things. Death had stopped bothering him a long time ago, granted, it was when everything ended, but that somehow...didn't bother him. John could probably go outside and snap someone's neck and come back to the abandoned building like nothing even happened. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? Who knows, but John had a feeling that something was going to happen eventually, the loss of something...or someone, that would completely destroy him. He knew that day would come eventually, he just hoped that day would take it's time to do so...

It wasn't terribly hard to steal away a few moments to himself after the day that they had had. Gabriel went out for a walk in the trees as the sun began to dip low in the sky. Not too far out, he spotted a large tree that sprouted up well above the canopy of the woods. So he did what any man with a sense of nostalgia would do.

He started climbing.

Prior to leaving Japan, Gabriel had come up with a design for his coat that would accommodate certain styles depending on where he was. In Japan, the Osaka Assassin’s had typically worn their swords slung on their backs with their robes being prevalent. But given that the rest of the world was trained in drawing weapons from the hip, they had been forced to get used to that as well. It made sense, from a training point of view when Gabe thought about it. A sword added weight to the body. It was difficult to run without holding the weapon if it was lashed to your hip. Learning to move where the weight was, helped your balance in untold ways. But keeping in the traditions of multicultural killers, Gabriel had made a compromise.

He’d designed his coat to be functional, and stylish. It definitely screamed that he was from the Colonies. The coat went from neck to thigh on both sides of his body. Even if he had the face of an American, wearing Japanese styled clothing would pretty well tip the scales of his profiling. But his coat doubled as his robe, as it came with a hood as well. The genius part of the design, came in the little slit that lay on his upper back. The slit was cleverly hidden by the leather buckle that he wore diagonally over his chest. When needed, Gabriel could slip his Katana into the slit and carry it on his back. Once in the slit, the sheath of his sword would descend into a custom made holster that Gabe wore under the coat, granting stability when he moved.

Reaper was currently in its favored spot, on Gabriel’s back as he climbed.

He made short work of the giant tree, reaching its apex in only a couple of minutes. Looking down, he figured he must have been roughly forty feet from the ground. A deadly fall if he slipped.

Gabriel sighed and planted his back against the thick spine of the tree, looking out into the world. This, was where he felt real freedom. Up high where he could commune with the clouds. This was where he went to clear his thoughts, and to regain his sanity. If there was such a thing. It seemed strange that he occupied a world where death was the primary currency.

Six men today. He’d had to put an end to six men. The ember of their lives snuffed out in an instant of brutality. He felt little remorse for the men however, as they had been bandits. They had very likely deserved their fates. What bothered Gabriel, was the idea of having to take a life. He’d never considered himself a judge. The hand of a judge, perhaps. The evils of a man’s heart, he’d been taught, were between that man and whatever God they believed in. Gabe’s purpose was just to arrange the meeting.

It was almost a depressing thought, when he got right down to why he was trained the way he was. His primary objective in life was to stop the Templars. It was quite a wide spanning mandate to live with. The Templars were personified by their members, but beyond that, they were an idea. An idea of power, of authority. They wanted peace through superior strength. Domination. Gabriel could line up every Templar in the world and cut him down with Reaper, and still, more would take their place. How does one kill an idea? The answer was quite simple really.

You couldn’t.

No, Gabe thought. He wasn’t made to kill the passion that drove men’s hearts. He was made to keep the balance neutral. The war between the Assassins and the Templars had been raging for centuries. But it was because of a proverbial line that had been drawn in the sand. When one power tried to step over that line, the other beat them down. Gabriel wasn’t supposed to pursue his enemies over the line, he was only supposed to stop them from stepping over it. Without the hand of might to crush the life from the world, men would be able to govern themselves in freedom. That was what it meant to be an Assassin. To be an agent of the world. To allow a people to make decisions for themselves, not to have choices made for them.

Gabriel smiled slightly at his little revelation. Just another tiny nugget of peace to file away for the hard times to come.

The sun was dipping even lower now. Darkness would be upon him soon. It was only as night approached, that Gabriel slid his hood down and exposed his head. He reached behind him and untied the length of string that held his hair in a low tail. He removed his leather gloves and tucked them into a pocket, then ran both hands through his raven hair, loosening the tension in his scalp.

What a life it was. To live for the world was to be completely selfless. Never doing anything for yourself except what was necessary to continue on living. It was a hard life. One not easily carried by most who chose it. Maybe that was why Gabriel had been chosen, instead of given the choice.

He shook his head. Didn’t much matter now, did it? He was in the life and a man grown. He could no more walk away from it now than he could just go and be a savvy businessman. He had his skills. He was good at this work.

Gabe pulled Reaper from its sheath and sat down on the branch with his back to the tree. The moon was high in the sky now. Its light struck the silvery steel of Reaper and lit the blade up like a lantern in the night. But Gabriel frowned. There was still a speck of dried blood in one spot from the first day that he had arrived in Boston Harbor. With an irritated cluck of his teeth, Gabe pulled his cleaning cloth from his coat and began going to work polishing his prized sword. As much as he toyed with the idea of Reaper having its own mind, Gabe knew that it was a piece of equipment. If you didn’t take care of your equipment, it would eventually fail you. As the first Captain in Boston had found out.

Deep in thought over his work, Gabe let his thoughts drift to the future. He wondered if Felicity was doing alright in her reconnaissance. He hoped that Alvin Sharpe and his partner had been the only ones tailing her, so that she may operate without scrutiny. Such a web of lies that they all worked with.

And what to do about the house? It was small and cramped. Expanding it to be functional was going to take time and resources. And how far should he go in expanding it anyway? Build an underground training center? He was loathe to have construction take place underground because it would be much more difficult, time consuming, and expensive. But having a mansion out in the wilderness would be rather conspicuous as well. And the house was currently made of old wood. It wouldn’t stand against much of a storm. They would need to bring in brick, from the city to reinforce the place.

Then to train John. That in itself was going to be a task. He’d seen John in action several times now. The man was brutal, unfocused and wild. His weapon of choice was fitting, as it didn’t require much more than an arm to swing it. But even a simple spoon could become a deadly weapon in the hands of a master. Gabriel would have to teach him the fundamentals of finesse, and footwork. It had taken Gabriel half of his life to learn the foundations of different sword styles. He knew classical fencing, which most of the British still employed. And he had been raised with Kenjutsu, the Japanese art of the katana.

The sword styles under his belt were plentiful, so he was sure that he could find one for John to use practically with his machete.  

The real test for John Ambrose was going to be temperament. He had enjoyed slaughtering the bandits today. Laughed even. Gabe would have to stamp out the association of happiness and death quickly, if he were to continue to train the man.

But what of this new Assassin? He hadn't even given his name, nor asked for hers. What was that about? It was probably customary to find out who someone was before walking away from them...

Was she the missing member of the Boston group? Gabe didn’t much think so. But if that was the case, then how many more Assassins were still in the region? He’d seen her tattoo, bold and clear. Templars would not brand themselves with such, even to further their cause. It was the reason why infiltration had failed for the Templars time and again in Osaka. None wanted to permanently brand themselves to root out their enemy. None had the backbone to heft a burning cauldron of water with their forearms, forever marking them as their enemy. It made spotting Templars in the group, rather easy. But if she wasn’t a Templar, why was she out by herself? And how had she gotten trained for that matter? Were there schools here like in Japan? If so, why had Gabriel been sent away as a child to train? If he’d been here instead, maybe Orville would still be alive…

He pushed the thought from his mind. He owed Orville Cunningham more than his life, but he had hardly really even known the man. They had crossed paths at the earliest possible stage of Gabriel’s life, and had not stayed together for long. But Gabriel was treating the man like a messiah. The cold calculation was, Gabriel Winters didn’t owe his life to a dead man. He was thankful that he’d been saved from a life without parents, without purpose. But Orville Cunningham was dead. He was killed because he’d probably made a critical mistake or had a horrible error in judgment. It was the only explanation. He had messed up, and everyone who depended on him had died for his error.

That, was definitely Master Tanaka talking.

He sighed again, looking Reaper over with a keen eye. He polished out any blemishes until he was finally satisfied, then replaced the blade on his back. Finally, he simply fell into the night. He closed his eyes fitfully and began to hum a pleasing tune to himself. He wasn’t tired. Just relaxing in the evening air, swinging one leg idly off the branch, while the other was tucked into his chest.

Kaya was perched high atop her favorite tree, a couple of miles out from the house she'd stumbled upon as well as the two new potential allies she had encountered today. She was sitting in the crook of a strong branch where it met with the trunk. Her legs were brought up to her chest with her arms hugging them. Her hood was withdrawn and it gave her a moment to breathe some fresh air. Her amber eyes were glinting in the moonlight and strands of her short burgundy hair tickled her face in the gentle breeze, her fingers absentmindedly adjusting it. She obsessively went through the memory in her mind over and over again as the moon rose high over the land.

She ran. She ran away from two men as fast as her legs could carry her through the forest to her thinking tree. Unsure of what her next move would be, she needed time to work things out in her head. Meeting this new Brother and his strange sword and strange friend, did this mean she had to join them now? She was so used to operating alone in the forests, supporting herself. She had almost forgotten what it was that she was even standing for, had it not been for the nightmares...the screams of ghosts in her dreams and the stench of charred flesh and wood in her nostrils that kept her up at night.

For close to nine years, she only stood for herself. In a way, it was comforting...not having to worry about the outside world and taking refuge among the wildlife and trees. But now as time went on, the ones with pale skin were growing in number and they were only going to continue to grow. Not to mention the conflict between them that they were dragging over here. She was worried. Worried for the future of this land and for her people. It felt as if the tension was ready to explode, sparking war and more suffering for everyone. Maybe that's what she was fighting for...fighting to end all the fighting. Fighting for peace and freedom for all.

Her grip tightened around her knees and she rested her chin on top of them, staring up at the stars. She knew all of this was so much bigger than her and that made part of her want to forget it all even more and stay here in the frontier, alone and unimportant. But lives were at stake, the freedom of her people and others were at stake.

After what she had seen the pale faced Templars were capable of, destroying countless homes and lives, another part of her was forced to admit that yes, she was afraid. What could one native Assassin do to stand up to the powerful Templars. For all she knew, the Assassin order was very weak in number. Where on earth was she supposed to start? How were they supposed to win this war of ideas? However, also because what she had seen the Tempars accomplish, killing most of her village and enslaving the rest, sparked the insatiable need for revolution in her chest. The need to fight for change, the need to stand up because she was afraid and she was certain others were afraid as well. 

It had a been a long time since she found herself in the company among other Assassins. Not since the Templars attacked her village. She managed to slip away with her Mentor, who even though was fatally wounded, agreed to train her to become part of the Brotherhood after seeing how she tried her hardest to protect their Clan Mother. Kaya wasn't strong enough at fourteen and armed with zero fighting knowledge to stand against an army, however she still managed to take out two before her Clan Mother told her to be brave and run. She was barely able to escape and she remembered how she screamed her throat raw when she saw her best friend, Kuruk laying in a pool of his own blood and his throat cut wide open. She remembered straining to hear his dying words as they were drowned out by the other screams of the villagers. She would never know what he said. There was fire and smoke swallowing everything in their wake and she couldnt bring herself to move. Her Mentor, nursing a bullet wound in his side, swooped down to scoop her up and he ran with her thrown over his shoulder kicking, shrieking and watching her village slowly turn to ash.

After days recovering from their loss, he told her flatly that he was dying and time was running out if she wanted to be given the skills to fend for herself and fight against those who bear the red cross of a Templar.

He was able to cling to life for a few months to give her the basics and even pass on his dark green and brown robes to her as well as his hidden blades. And for the remainder of nine years, she was on her own. Hunting, training and continuously sharpening her skills to survive. A few months of official Assassin training was all the had under her belt...but nine years of solitude and survival taught her the rest. She was never given the ritual of being welcomed into the brotherhood. When she was in town, trading meat and furs she decided to have her own private ritual and traded coin to get herself the Assassin emblem tattooed on her wrist...a permanent scar to remind herself.

 She missed her tribe, her family, using her language. Her way of old life was missed most. When life was simple and she was twelve years old, gawking with her best friend at the ones who were being trained to become the title Assassin".  Maybe it was time to let that all go, let it fade into the past where it belonged and rush bravely and blindly into the future. She held the power to decide her own fate, and to decide what she wanted to change, what she wanted to die for. Freedom. Freedom for all at the cost of the death of the Templars and their twisted idea of control over human lives; what they deemed "Order" and "Stability".

She jumped down from her perch to a lower branch until her feet hit the ground. She drew her hood over her eyes again, her head held high and proud. She would go back to them, what she would say...well she would have to work that out in her head on the way...she wasn't very skilled with stringing words and thoughts together to form verbal sentences but she would figure something out. She always did. She started off at a brisk jog before breaking out into a flat out sprint, loving the way her legs and chest burned. It made her feel alive.

A couple miles later, she found the house again and found footprints that couldn't have been her own, they were much larger. They led back into the thick of the woods. She tracked and followed them to a beautiful, old tree that stood proudly above the others around her. She took off her glove for a moment to press her palm against the rough bark, smiling briefly before looking up and seeing a dark outline of a man high up in the branches. She slipped her glove back on and began climbing with ease. 

The closer she got to him, she listened closely to his deep soft breaths and concluded that he was asleep. Not wanting to spook or wake him, she silently continued to climb past him and rested on a branch a couple yards above him. She swung one leg over the branch and straddled it, pressing her back against the base of the tree and raising her eyes to lose herself in the stars again.

She would wait until he woke to speak with him, in the meantime she would figure out what she could say.

After the job was done in terms of the dragging of corpses, John decided to go upstairs, to see the room he was dreading to see the most...he remembered it like how he remembered how to breath, top floor, third door on the right...he headed up to there, taking his time as he walked into the room, looking around at the room...it hadn't changed much.

The few pieces of furniture that at the time were there had been taken out. But his memories were mixing into reality, almost like a flashback version of a hallucination. He saw all the furniture that was there, he saw himself...when he was only about...well, 13-15, sitting in the corner he tried not to look at, with only underwear on for clothes as he hugged his knees, crying into them as he rocked back and forth. Cuts and bruises all around his body...which had only scarred since then. Then the sound started to kick in, as he heard the spring on the very...very dirty bed go up and down and the horrendous screaming of a female came from inside and the dreaded drunken laughter from a male went through the room.

As the flashback hallucination went on, present day John was only silent, looking at the scenery, trying not to burst into tears himself as the memories started to become all too much for him to take...but then it did, and John's eyesight began to get darker and darker, and he heard his legs began to buckle...before he collapsed...

John Ambrose, the supposed tough guy who could take anything...had just fainted.

Gabriel must have dosed off to his own humming. Though he did not sleep fitfully. His dreams were riddled with riddles. Who to go to first? What was the first step?

He awoke with a sharp intake of breath as a cool breeze kissed his cheeks. Immediately, training took over, and he went through his checklist.

Where am I?

Tree.

Danger?

No.

Reaper?

On back.

He settled his breathing immediately as his eyes adjusted. It must have been 11 pm or so. He hadn't been sleeping long then.

He sighed and closed his eyes again pressing his head back against the tree trunk. As he opened his eyes skyward, he frowned, then squinted and shifted his head sideways slightly in confusion.

Legs? Above him?

Ah....

He returned his gaze to the dark horizon.

"I didn't get your name back at the house." he said lightly by way of introduction.

"Mine, is Gabriel Winters."

Gabe kept his eyes straight for as long as he dared, but then looked up at the female native above. If nothing else, she liked to climb....

She swung her legs back and forth like a child, cleaning the blood from her tomahawk from the fight earlier.

"Kaya," She said, timid and quiet. She had so many questions and didnt know where to start.

"Your blade...is strange. Where are you from?" She wondered if that was even the right question to ask first.  She kept her gaze fixed on her task, her cheeks getting warm.

She desperately wanted to know more about this Assassin. Were there others? How many more? Was there hope for them?

Gabriel yanked his sword from his hidden back slot with a quick tug, sheath and all.

"Reaper? Mm.... I suppose it would be strange to someone from this land. This sword is special, even where I come from. I was born here, Kaya, but I trained overseas in Japan. It was where I was raised, and trained. Where were you trained?" He asked in return.

Quite timid, this one. The ironic thing was that she almost seemed as quiet in nature as he tended to be. Or used to be, prior to having to take charge.

It couldn't be helped. No one could change where they were at any given moment.

No matter.

he had much to learn about his new ally. If that was what she was..

Reaper? Stranger was the name he called his sword than the actual shape of the blade itself. She drank in every word he offered to her. Overseas? Over the Great Waters? Japan? Where was that? She had never heard of such a land. Suddenly, her world just got bigger than she had previously imagined it to be. Her eyes lit up with curiosity of other lands. What was it like there? How different was it? What did the language sound like? What were the people like? Her mind was ablaze with the imagination of lands so much different than her own.

Then in an instant when he asked about where she was trained, her enthusiasm quickly deflated. Her legs stopped swinging, she stopped cleaning her weapon. The question seemed to hang in the air between them bringing time around them to a sudden halt. Images in quick succession raced through her mind. Kuruk's hot blood on her hands, the screams of her village, Nahele, her mentor, training her for only a few months before passing into the Spirit World, nine long years of solitude "training" by herself. She wasn't quite sure how to answer his question and she didn't want to have to talk too much and explain her story, not yet at least. She chose to procrastinate the telling of her story for as long as she could, simply because she didn't know how to string the words together to tell him coherently.

"I trained here. In the...frontier, I think that is the word you would use in your language. My village was small and had Mentors who trained a lucky few to become Assassins." Her tone dropped significantly lower and softer as she resumed the polishing of her tomahawk. She was satisfied with her answer, it wasn't completely true nor completely false.

Gabriel noticed the elongated pause. He didn't move his neck or head, but shifted his eyes upwards and noticed that Kaya had stopped her comfortable swaying. When she began speaking, he instantly understood.

While he wasn't much of a student of proper speech practices, he had been trained to noticed inflection and implications in conversations. The Masters said that he didn't need to speak to be understood, but that he would need to understand what was being spoken in order to be effective. Kaya locked up in a manner that resembled what John had done when the past was close to being brought up.

And she had used the word "was" when describing her village. Meaning that it was no longer a part of her life.

I see... So you are another sister that carries the weight of the world upon her. You fight not only for peace, but for vengeance. Templars destroyed everything you held dear and turned you into the instrument of their destruction. Are there any among our ranks that are not riddled with shot of pain from their past? He thought silently to himself.

He closed his eyes and shook his head ruefully.

"Kaya, I am not.... well versed in how to properly speak to others in sympathetic ways. I wasn't trained to like people. I wasn't trained to interact with them in anything other than granting them death. So, please forgive my ineptitude in navigating this...

I will not ask you again about your past. If you feel you want to speak to me about it, that is your affair. I will listen to what you have to say. And I will not pretend to understand your motivations or what you have been through, as I was all but born to the Order. I know not who it was who caused you such pain. But know that I was sent here from across the world to aid a group of our Brothers who needed more than just my sword. They were obliterated by our common enemy, nearly down to the last man. What you see is all that is left of their work. We have names, targets. But there are only three of us. The Templars have armies, spies... they have resources. We have naught but our wits, some scavenged equipment from a destroyed training vault, and a shabby run-down house that we need to re purpose into a home and safe haven.

I would like to say that our chances of restoring balance in this region were good. But I was trained to be a realist. The odds are significantly stacked against us. We could use your skills Kaya. I have but one other fully trained Assassin with me who is in constant danger of being discovered. The man you saw with me earlier is an Initiate to our ways... as of today. Under trained and wild. I have to instruct him in our methods, and I have naught the skill to train him and watch for our safety at the same time.

All to say, we could use your help. And perhaps given enough time and digging, we will find some answers you seek, if that is what you wish."

Now, he did look up at her from his perch. Watching her for even the smallest reaction to his words.

She listened closely to his words, grateful that he understood her hesitation in going into further detail of her background. Her her heart sank into her stomach when he told the reality of situation. There were only three left? Three? Where was the third if the other man was just an initiate?

Before her hope dissolved to nothing, she felt the tiniest spark of something ignite in her chest. She couldn't quite identify the feeling but she knew it was the fighter, the survivor inside of her screaming to forget the odds. The odds told her nine years ago at fourteen she wouldn't have been able to survive, the odds told her there was no way she would be able to be as skilled a fighter as she was now because she was so small... and a woman. The odds didn't mean everything was lost, the odds were a challenge. A small smile bloomed across her face, as she turned to look down at him and meet his gaze. "I suppose we have our work cut out for us. I think that is how the saying goes," she chuckled lightly. "Very well, I will fight with you, Gabriel."

She finished up polishing the blade of her tomahawk and placed back were it belonged, hanging from her right hip.
She pulled her hood back and leaped down from her branch onto his with incredible precision and sat down directly in front of him, offering him her right hand. "Like this...right...?" She had observed, from afar, this custom of the pale faces numerous occasions but had never had the opportunity to try it out herself. She gave him a sheepish grin.

Gabriel let the shadow of a smile hint at the corner of his lips. Yes, they did have their work cut out for them. But it was work that would be made easier now that they had more experienced hands. Many hands made light work after all...

The Assassin didn't so much as flinch as Kaya vaulted down to his level. But he actually did grin slightly as she say before him and offered her hand in the traditional greeting of what society had deemed "The Civilized folk".

He nodded once in confirmation that it was the right way to greet someone, then took her hand firmly in his own. His gloves hid the roughness of his swordsman's callouses. But he was gentle with how much pressure he gave. The first time he'd shook a man's hand, he'd nearly broke his greeters digits. Unintentionally of course. He'd simply underestimated the strength of his own arm at such a simple task. He'd been so scrawny as a child, it was hard to conceive of the muscle he bore beneath his skin as an adult.

More training, he'd rationalized.

As he looked into her eyes, he suddenly realized something that had escaped him before.

Kaya was beautiful...

The thought once again took him completely off guard. But it was evident to him now, at point blank range. She was no longer covered in blood. What was it these days? First the initial notice of Felicity, and now this new Assassin, Kaya? Had he simply never noticed a woman before? That actually might not be too far from the truth, as he thought about it. His entire life had been so straight forward leading until now. His focus had constantly been on training, or contracts. Bettering himself, honing himself into a weapon. There had been no time to notice his adolescent urges. He'd eagerly pushed them aside, to be replaced with more training. Never to be thought of again.

Until now of course, when he was on his own time. There were no Mentors to pull his focus. Only his own discipline. He could get past small things like this, with thoughts like that. He had copious amounts of discipline to go round.

Even so...

The amber eyes and the dark skin that was only accented by her hood... The ease of motion she carried, coupled with the innocent naive tendencies she had already expressed. It was all very endearing. Gabriel suddenly found himself thinking a word he had never thought would cross his mind.

'Cute'

He blinked rapidly and realized he was staring at her, still shaking her hand. Awkwardly for anyone accustomed to the gesture, he quickly pulled his hand away and closed his eyes, offering a nervous chuckle.

Oh damn there it was again! That stupid laugh that filled any awkward void created by his ineptitude.

He cleared his throat noisily and stood suddenly.

"Erm... I suppose we should get back to John and let him know what your intent is. We still have much to discuss. I'll explain on the way..."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, all business again. Awkwardness disappeared, to be replaced with sheer grace as he looked down at the target below. He'd chosen this tree for several reasons. The first was for its height. But the second, was because a few beavers in the area had been building a rather large nest below it. There were so many soft pine needles and wet branches that it was fit for a cushion.

With all the grace of a cat, Gabriel rose up on the balls of his feet and launched himself off of the branch. His arms spread wide in the open air. Immediately he brought his feet together in pointed tips, arching his back into a swan dive.

Down and down he raced, pitching forward in midair as gravity did its work.

And then it was over.

He landed perfectly safe in the cushion of the nest of leaves and pine on the ground. He quickly hopped up from the pile and moved aside, looking up to see how Kaya got down.

This was the first time that Kaya was able to get a closer look at her newly found ally's face. His deep blue eyes were dark and piercing, and his dark hair hung like a curtain that framed his face and fell just past his shoulders. He was strikingly handsome even with his long scar that stretched from his left ear, along his jawline and finally ending at his chin. She was curious what happened to him that left him with that scar but she didn't want to bring herself to ask...for fear of triggering negative emotions or memories for him.

Then she noticed him watching--practically staring--at her. She raised an eyebrow but then it was slowly falling into place in her mind and she suddenly felt heat rush to her cheeks. Hardly ever being around other people for more than two days for nine years, all these new and intense emotions came washing over her. Her heart pounded almost painfully against her rib cage and she became afraid that Gabriel would be able to hear it.

His hand was still folded over hers. Did handshakes normally take this long...? She had observed several handshakes exchanged by the English and she never remembered them lasting this long. Was she supposed to let go first? Or was he supposed to? She very quickly was beginning to regret her decision in wanting to try this new ritual. This was a bad idea, Kaya...now what...? He then quickly withdrew his hand and chuckled. She nervously wiped the sweat forming on her palms onto her thighs and dropped her gaze to fix it onto the branch supporting them. Spirits, what was that...?! she thought, criticizing herself as he cleared his throat and got up to his feet.

John...? Is that what the initiate was called? The branch rebounded slightly from the sudden change in weight as Gabriel dove off it. She watched him fall through the air and land onto a rather large pile of pine needles and damp tree branches. Excited, she beamed as she sprung to her feet. This was just one other part that she loved about climbing. She took a couple steps backward until her back was pressed against the trunk. Leaps of Faith, her mentor called them. She would never forget her very first. She was afraid, clinging to the tree for dear life but refusing to whine. Her own natural stubbornness, and her Mentor, Nehele, of course, would not let her back down.

Now as she was older and had much more leaps performed, she rushed down without hesitation to the end of the branch and plunged herself into the open air with her arms outstretched. The wind ripped through her hair and roared in her ears as she dropped quickly towards the ground. About halfway down, she tucked her torso under and flipped her feet over so that she would be positioned to land on her back directly on top of the pile. She hopped back up on her feet, grinning wide at Gabriel from the adrenaline surging through her blood. Her hair was wind swept and wild around her face but she didn't care. She moved to follow his lead, anxious yet eager to meet the man called John.

When Kaya popped back up out of the brush, she had a grin on her face. Gabriel felt entranced by it. The pale moonlight shown on her face and for an instant in time, Gabriel Winters saw that even an emotionally wounded Assassin could find joy in the world. It was in that smile that Gabriel lost himself. This time, a full on smile spread over his lips. He couldn’t help himself. Discipline went out the window.

And for the first time in several years, a foreign emotion filled Gabriel’s stomach at such a wonderful sight.

Fear.

Unconditional fear. Not for his life, but for his thoughts. What must Kaya think of him? He seemed so inconsistent with his emotions that he must seem to have been crazier than John. Upon their first meeting, Gabe had been in a reserved combat state. Cold. Collected. Perhaps even bitter. Now Kaya had seen him completely helpless while sleeping. It was not a state that Gabriel offered to people, even comrades. Traveling from Boston with Felicity and John, he’d been more napping and meditating than fully sleeping. He didn’t like showing vulnerability or habit. It made it easier for people to exploit your weakness.

Now, he was acting like a giddy schoolboy. Caution nearly thrown to the wind. Every ounce of his training had not prepared him for this situation. He was supposed to be leading the remaining Assassins against their enemies. But there was one fatal flaw in his unfinished plans.

He liked Kaya.

It was too dangerous, the back of his mind was screaming at him. He had had no friends growing up. No one to confide in. His insecurities were discussed between himself and his Masters. They had not been friends. They had taught him how to hide his feelings away, lest someone use them against him. His fellow trainees had been competition. It was a brotherhood in name only, across the ocean.

He didn’t understand his sudden feelings. But as they walked back side by side, Gabriel suddenly found an openness that he had felt with no one else in the world since his birth. He talked. And talked, and talked. He explained to Kaya about the vault in Boston and the carnage within. Then about his and John’s run-in with the British Regulars and that particular squads association with the Templars. Felicity and her current task in New York.

When he was done, he continued on about John’s seemingly delicate mental state, and the concerns that Gabe had about his training.

Before he knew it, he was talking about Reaper and the importance of being handed the legacy of carrying the blade. What it meant to lose such a thing, which is why the katana was never more than arms reach from him at all times. It was now a part of his very soul. He opened up to Kaya in ways that he had hadn’t opened up to anyone else since… well, ever. There was a freedom in his release.

And what was it that was drawing him to her like a moth to flame, he wondered to himself. She was certainly easy on the eyes. The confidence, the skill that she carried with her? It was enamoring. Perhaps it was the situation. A natural native beauty, ignorant in the ways and customs of the world outside of her own. And perhaps the fact that regardless of this, she pushed forward into the unknown anyway. The bravery it took to do that was astonishing. The fact that she was rather timid and quiet? Well, so was Gabriel.

…Normally…

He spoke of the difficulties of training in Japan and at her confused look, he explained where it was in the world and how long it took to get there. He spoke about the language barrier posing a problem until he had learned to speak it fluently. Of the other members of the Clan, which was what the Japanese had called one of their cells of operation.

Then he was telling Kaya about his survival training, and having to spend days in a mountain pass in the dead of winter with little more than his small clothes and no food. He had been left alone with no dry firewood. He’d survived by taking his isolation in stages. First he found shelter in an abandoned cave. Then he’d fashioned a spear, turning to nature to help provide his needs. He’d stalked and killed a mountain goat and eventually found enough supplies to make a fire. It was one of the most difficult parts of his training, but Gabriel had survived. The trick, he said, was to fool your body into thinking it was already warm. That way, your mind stopped fighting the cold. There was so much that human beings had lost over years of practice, the knowledge of what willpower was capable of being paramount.

He told her about the battle at sea before arriving at Boston Harbor. And the wonders of seeing the sunrise from atop the highest mast of a Galleon, having nothing but the wind and salty air to keep him company, and the freedom of it all.

On and on he went. Before long he was realized that he was about to talk himself hoarse. And even as he quieted, he still had that fear in his stomach. He wasn’t speaking animatedly, rather explaining things seen from an almost third person perspective. It was a casual tone. But the fluttering in his stomach would not abate.

What was she thinking about? Was he talking too much? Did she find him eccentric with his range of experiences? Was he going too far in assuming she cared?

The questions tormented his mind as he turned his attention to walking again. They were still about a miles walk from the house, perhaps thirty minutes time away on foot. He realized his cheeks were getting warm when he found that he had been speaking so long. She hadn’t even gotten more than a couple of words in.

How very rude of him…

Kaya was quite proud of herself for "socializing" with another human being and an Assassin, like herself, at that. She hoped that one day she would eventually run into other Assassins, like Nehele had always told her. Seek the symbol. Seek the Brotherhood. Remember: Nothing is True and Everything is Permitted. His words were burned into her memory but she never imagined that she would plummet into the void of sorrow, so much so that she almost lost herself. The whole situation had seemed hopeless to her and it just seemed to make more sense to her grief stricken mind to stay in the woods, where it was safe, familiar, comfortably lonely and quiet. She didn't have to worry about this insane underground war between Assassins and Templars. She only had to survive, life was much simpler, less emotional and less painful that way. She didn't have to worry about loved ones dying.

However, she still had always daydreamed of finding a group where she felt she could truly stand with. Even when she was a young girl, living in her village long before the attack, she never quite felt like she belonged anywhere. The other native children used to tease and bully her about how small she was and about how she was always so quiet. They would laugh at her whenever she tried to fit in or, with her voice shaking, tried to speak up for herself. Eventually, she would always find herself running far into forests abandoning her village and the other children for the company of trees and waterfalls. They never laughed, or judged they were always peacefully silent and Kaya took solace in that. She had always been quiet and restrained. She always listened.

Their Clan Mother, while rinsing off a skinned knee with some fresh water and smiling at Kaya's tearful expression and bright red nose and cheeks from crying, told her that she had a very different spirit than most. Her reserved nature might have often been perceived as weak, but she could tell that it was quite the opposite. She listened and that's how she observed and learned about the world around her. It made her strong and clever, she could understand things on a more deeper level than others could.

Kaya smiled at the memory that stirred both warm and bitter emotions in her chest. As she walked at Gabriel's side, she watched him and listened intently. Her eyes were alight with admiration while she was mesmerized by his voice and his words. She never knew just how indescribably fascinating meeting another person could be. He offered stories, which were always a favorite of hers. She grew up on the stories her community told and passed down from generation to generation.

Japan...it sounded almost like a fairy tale to her, as he described how different it was. The culture, the language, the training of Assassins was all so alien to and incredibly intriguing.

Gabriel went on to describe his training to her. She mentioned that it sounded similar to her own "training" in terms of survival. She remembered when Nehele passed it was just before the Snow Season and she had to figure out how to stay alive. It wasn't easy yet here she was, alive and walking, listening to him.

And the ships...Kaya had never set foot on one, but she'd seen them from afar; huge white sails and men shouting and singing as they sailed off into the distance or towards the shores. She had always wondered what it would be like on one. Maybe one day she would have to venture further, expand her horizons and explore new places.

She felt as if her chest was ready to burst with wonder and amazement, that now she almost couldn't understand why she wanted to stay so secluded in the first place. Safety? Was it worth it? To trade the freedom to travel to new lands and experience new things and people for safety? For so long she fooled herself into thinking that living alone in the forests was freedom...but now, listening to Gabriel speak, she wasn't entirely too sure.

Sure, the frontier forests would always be her home but something new was awakening in Kaya... burning curiosity for the unknown and the courage to chase it.

Warmth spread throughout her entire body. What was this emotion she had never felt before? Was there even a word for it? Happy? Cheerful? That didn't even really describe it very well...It had been so long since she felt this way that it was so unusual to her.

Gabriel fell silent and it wasn't long until her insecurities caught up with her and hit her hard. That small instinctual voice in her mind was screaming at her to keep her distance, getting attached or too close to things can only end in misery. She broke her gaze with Gabriel and stared ahead, her smile fading. She suddenly felt very foolish and ashamed of herself for letting her guard down so easily.

That wasn't normal...perhaps it was because she just simply wasn't used to having to keep it up around people...but to her he seemed too easy to open up to. She would have to watch herself very closely. She couldn't afford to lose more people, she couldn't afford to get close to anyone including comrades and brothers and sisters in arms.

Immediately, that old habit of wanting to flee into the trees again crept back through her veins. She craved to run away from the frighteningly violent and sudden rush of emotions but still...she remained. There was a tiny part of her that liked it...that enjoyed the slow torture of these emotions. Maybe it just another thing that made her feel more alive and more human.

She hated the feeling of all of these emotions clashing in her mind she had to expel them somehow. She needed to run. So she glanced sideways at Gabriel and dared to give him a tiny smirk. "Last one there is an a'nó:wara!" She exclaimed before suddenly racing forward and not giving him anytime to think or respond. She chuckled lightly to herself while her lungs gulped down oxygen and her lean, muscular legs propelled her forward He probably did not understand at all what I just said to him...oh well. and with that she smiled again. Running always made her feel free, untouchable by pain or emotions or anything in the physical world for that matter.

She isn’t talking… I have spoken too much, she thinks I am completely mental… Congratulations Winters, once again you have made yourself out to be the fool… You are comple-

Gabe’s eyes flicked up immediately as she took off.

“Wait! A what?!” He called after her. Confused, he broke into a run as well. His mind raced back to an instant before. He realized quickly that her tone had been playful.

A game. Wait, a game? Were adults supposed to play games? Gabriel had no idea if it was proper or not. He’d never played a game before. First one to the house? A race then. His training kicked in and Gabriel began to regulate his breathing as his pace quickened.

There was a direct path back to the house but it was one Gabriel had gone around on his way out. Some storm or other natural disaster had turned the trees in the area into a thick obstacle course. Trees lay destroyed everywhere. There was no great route through without having to go over or under.

But it was the fastest way back to John. Gabriel glanced just ahead of him at Kaya and realized that this was also the route that she was going for.

A devilish grin cracked his lips. More training then…

He focused his eyes forward and noticed Kaya angling toward a half felled oak. It was one that he approved of, that would be his choice as well. In fact, that was going to be his choice. He fell in step behind Kaya a couple of paces and hopped up onto the base of the tree an instant after she did. Both of them ran in line up the tree, placing one foot directly in front of the other. Gabriel spread his arms wide to keep his balance as he moved.

At the top of the downed tree, there was a large gap that showed a path of sturdy looking branches to swing from to go higher into the trees. Kaya however, dropped and rolled from the top of the tree because of her height. There was no way she would have been able to clear the gap and reach for the branches.

As she tucked and rolled back into a run, Gabe leapt with all his might and caught the branch. His momentum of running swung him right to the point he wanted, and he released the branch to continue to the next. The third branch however, found him overcompensating for his speed and Gabriel released himself too late. He didn’t panic though, he kept his weight moving. He was upside down and backwards for a moment, but he knew where the next branch was, it was going to be foot level as he came around. He took the instant in the air to look down at Kaya and smile.

He threw his weight forward and found his boots firmly on the branch he had intended to swing to, and continued on.

Gabriel Winters was having fun.

"In your language it is called a 'turtle'!" She shouted over her shoulder to him while balancing her weight on a a fallen tree, placing one foot carefully and precisely in front of the other. As she was reaching the end of the tree, she saw two possible options she could take. One: a path of branches she could swing from however it would involve her leaping across a gap that was quite wide. Two: She could drop back to the forest floor. The closer she got to the end of the fallen oak tree, the more she realized the gap was too wide for her to clear it. "Damn...it is always because I am small...isn't it?" She scowled while leaping off the end of the tree, rolling to cushion her fall and to keep her momentum moving forward and back onto her feet.

She pushed onward, pouting and watching Gabriel swing from each branch with such ease and grace it made her a little jealous. But she shook it off quickly, leaving it behind. Being small through out her life, made her strong. It made her push harder, train longer, become faster. She focused on her breathing, and forced herself to draw deep breaths in time with her feet hitting the ground.

Ever since she was a child she fell in love with the way the wind whipped through her hair and cooled the sweat collecting on her neck and brow. She loved the way the green of the leaves blurred around her, the way her entire body fell in synch when she ran. She felt untouchable and invincible. She would survive. She could survive anything that crossed her path. Another wide smile spread across her lips as that thought rose to the surfaced of her mind.

It was every bit of midnight when the duo came bursting out of the trees and into the clearing where the house lay. Gabriel gazed dismally at Kaya who had reached the clearing before him. He was out of breath but had a genuine smile on his lips. He hadn’t even let her win. She was simply faster on the ground than he was in the trees. Where Gabriel had to arrest his momentum several times so as not to pitch forward, Kaya could use her momentum and slide under logs or hop over obstacles.

“I suppose that marks me as a turtle, does it not?” He said with mirth in his eyes.

As he looked up, still breathing heavily, Gabe noticed that the house was dark. Odd that John did not light a lantern or… well anything. He shrugged it off as John just forgetting.

Moving forward, Gabriel pulled Reaper from his back and replaced the sword on his hip. He wasn’t going to be doing much running at this point so there was no reason to have his blade on his back and out of the way. The placement was useful in certain situations but tedious in others. The back was good for contracts or missions, but it made for a slower draw speed. Whereas having the sword on his hip gave much more speed in arming himself, it became cumbersome with too much movement.

As they approached, Gabriel spoke again in a low voice, not wanting John to hear if he was in fact still awake. It was an odd thing really. He still didn’t fully trust John. But Kaya came along and immediately his defenses were down, and he trusted her explicitly.  Perhaps it was because she was fully trained and seasoned in the Brotherhood. He really couldn’t put his finger on it.

“We venture into town tomorrow. Supply run. I will need you to accompany John while I attempt contact with Felicity. If you had words of instruction for him in even the simplest aspects. I invite you to share them with the man. He remains mostly ignorant of our ways, and tends to be about as subtle as a uniformed Regular in the woods.” The comparison being a Redcoat starkly contrasting against the natural colors of nature.

He entered the house like a cat burglar, his footfalls silent on the aging wooden floor. John was not in the main room. The money on the table remained exactly as it had been left. Completely undisturbed. John hadn’t even tidied up the bag for easy use. The British Pounds were in exactly the same spot at they had been left.

Strange…

He dared not call out for John, lest the man actually be sleeping. He looked around quickly, eyes darting in the darkness. No windows broken, save the one Gabriel had sent a man through earlier. No other signs of forced entry on the front door.

Gabriel glanced back to Kaya and pressed a finger to his lips, motioning for silence. Then he started upstairs, one agonizingly slow step at a time. His eyes kept flicking from the steps he was about to take, to the opening at the top of the landing. Gabe made sure to place the tip of his foot on what appeared to be the most structurally sound portion of the stair, and very slowly shifted his weight up to it. It helped to avoid needless creaking as he ascended.

As he neared the top he removed Reaper, sheath and all from his belt. He held it wide of his body and placed his right hand on the hilt, ready to rip it free and go to work if there was someone waiting.

At the top of the landing, there was no one. A simple window at the top of the steps showed no signs of damage. After a quick glance around both corners, Gabe noticed one door on the second floor open. He crept forward slowly, patiently, as a stalker in the moonlight.

Poised at the edge of the door, Gabriel looked all around the frame for trip-wires or traps. Finding none, he expanded his search inside, and found John face down on the floor.

His eyes narrowed, then flicked around again. No signs of struggle, no signs of battle, no signs of broken windows, no pooled blood under Ambrose, and no sign whatsoever of any kind of attacker.

Just John sprawled out face down.

Gabriel quickly stepped into the room and knelt by his student. He reached out with his right hand and placed two fingers at the base of one of John’s thumbs. Even through his gloves, he could feel a pulse. After exchanging a confused look with Kaya, Gabriel shook his head, not understanding. He slid Reaper back into his belt and used both hands to roll John over.

“John.” He said simply. No response. Had he just passed out? Why would he do such a thing? They had both drank water on the way so he wasn’t dehydrated. Why had he fainted?

“John…” he said louder. Still nothing.

So Gabriel did the only other thing he thought might work. He shrugged at Kaya, then cocked his elbow and backhanded John across the face. Not hard, but not very soft either…

John, having fainted from all of the flashbacks, woke up feeling a massive red hot burning on his cheek, before seeing Gabe and some woman behind him...looking down at him. "Ow...the fuck...? Uhh....did I...faint...?" John asking, in quite a dazed state, before beginning to get up. Gabe obviously didn't know just how much this place meant to John...in a bad way anyway, it looked like it might be about time to tell him what exactly happened....