The darkness (closed)

"I worked at Abstergo at one point. Had to keep some information hidden from the Templars. John Standish was helping me" Ember said sadly. She drew her hood, and looked at the ground. "If I had known, I would have helped."

"They kept me pretty separate from everyone else," Austin said with a shrug. "There was probably no way that you could have known."

"But still, I should have done something." Ember looked at Austin, and smiled. She almost jumped out of her skin when the cubs appeared, laughing before they nipped at her ankles. "Looks like they got out."

Vixen started again, pushing deeper into the bushes she was sniffing around. "Poor Vixen," Austin said softly, coaxing the young fox out with a soft click. She darted from the bushes and curled up in his lap, her thick tail curled around her head. "Still jumpy."

"Sorry, Vixen. This is Bud, and this is Lou. They won't hurt you" Ember said softly. The two cubs sniffed around curiously. They wanted to get a closer look at Vixen, but Ember held them back.

Austin gave a soft chuckle and stroked the young fox's back. "She's been jumpy since I found her," he said and the smile on his face soon disappeared. "You know, I found her beside her mother. Vixen was a tiny thing then." Vixen looked up at Austin for a moment and then rubbed her head against his leg before curling back up with her nose under her tail.

"I'm sorry to hear about her mother. In a way, she's like Bud and Lou, an orphan." Ember pointed to a fox slinking around in the darkness, looking for something to eat. "Foxes are naturally jumpy. Maybe Vixen will grow out of it if she plays with Bud and Lou?"

"Think they'll work?"
"Of course they will! Ember brought them in, and she has never brought us faulty equipment!"
"We'll just have to wait for them to wake up before we can know for sure."

Austin gave a small shrug and rested a hand on Vixen's back. "Maybe," he said softly. "I think it's also because she's always been by herself for so long." It was true. Austin never left the clocktower. It was his home and he felt out of place in any of the other HQs around the United States. He looked at his companion and smiled, smoothing her russet red fur down along her spine. "Yes, I think she could use the company of others. In a way, she's a lot like me: always alone."

"It'd be kinda cute to see them getting along." Ember stood up, and stretched before she scaled the mansion wall. She made her way to Benjamin's room, and tapped on the window.

Benjamin stirred in the bed for a moment with a groan before he crawled out of bed and crossed the floor to the window, opening it enough for her to climb in if she wished before he returned to the warmth of his bed, draping the blanket over himself again while he buried his face into the pillow.

Ember crawled in through the window, and fixed her hoodie.
"I'm heading out for some exercise. I-I was wondering if you wanted to join me? But it looks like I woke you up" Ember said sheepishly.

"Exercise? For wha'? You plannin' on joinin' the olympics or somethin'?" Benjamin teased sleepily, shifting so that his head was half hidden by the pillow though his eyes were fixed upon Ember.

"No, but I have to stay in shape if I'm going to fight whoever killed my friends." Ember climbed back out the window, smiled at Benjamin, and set off to get some training. She raced across the rooftop, before taking a jog around the mansion. She finally came to a stop at the gates, and held her chest in pain. "Breakfast should be ready in a bit. I suppose I had better get cracking" Ember said with a sigh before she made her way back to the mansion. She headed straight to her room, took a shower, and got dressed before she got to work on her laptop.

As the gray light of dawn began to make itself known to the rest of the world, the sun peeking up over the horizon, Benjamin woke and took his own shower. It was more or less to keep himself clean and distracted. Austin, however, had remained awake, his shower already taken and a pair of jeans slipped onto his body while he wore the same shirt he'd worn the other night at dinner. It was his favorite shirt, mainly because it had once belonged to his father.

Ember raced downstairs for breakfast. She stopped a few inches from the door to lower her hood so as not to scare her father. She took a seat at the far end of the table, and started to pick at her fruit salad. She didn't feel much like herself.

Austin and Benjamin both entered the dining hall one after the other. Benjamin's eyes trailed over Ember and he soon sat down next to her while Austin sat on her other side, leaving a chair's space between them. "Are you alrigh'?" Benjamin asked quietly, worry shining in his voice.

"I don't know, Benji" Ember said sadly before finally taking a bite from her fruit salad. "It's just... Never mind..." Ember looked up at Benjamin with pained eyes before turning to face Austin. "Would either of you like to watch over me while I'm in the Animus after breakfast?"

Austin froze, a portion of the salad he'd gotten on his fork falling back onto his plate while Benjamin placed a hand on her back and gave it a rub. "Sure," he said with a nod. "I'll always be there for ya, lass." Austin grumbled something inaudible before he looked up at Ember's father, Richard. Austin quickly looked away just in time to see a portion of his nightmare flash through his head and his eyes closed rather tightly.

"Thank you, Benji" Ember said sadly before she returned to her breakfast. She looked up to Austin, and sighed. "It's got nothing to do with my father. I am doing this of my own free will."

"Never suspected your father," Austin said simply, his voice shaking enough for him to clear his throat before he returned to his breakfast, a hand rising every so often to his own head to massage his temples. "Never said he had something to do with it." He added after a while, his voice soft and respectful. What he said next was unexpected and uncharacteristic of the Donnelly. "Was actually wondering if he had more than one."

"I always have a spare one lying around." Ember looked up at Austin, and hung her head. "Sorry about what I said. It's just that everyone thinks that my father is some monster hellbent on forcing Assassins to use the Animus for Templar gain."

"It's fine," Austin said softly, shooting her a forced smile. It was forced because of what he had to try and keep at bay: his nightmare. "You're protective of him. It's natural." He would never admit to wanting to know if there was another Animus because he didn't want to admit to the fact that he thought he could track down the dark figure from his nightmare in the lives of his ancestors. But somehow, it shone through his next words, his voice quiet. "Do you think the dark figure in my nightmare has something to do with my ancestors?"

"Probably. We can only try" Ember said with a smile. She finished the rest of her breakfast in silence before she said goodbye to her father, and watched him leave. "They're up in my study. Just let me know when you're ready."

Austin felt his heart speed in his chest, pounding hard against its cage as he himself finished what he could of the food before he rose from his chair and turned to Ember. In the depths of his green eyes shone fear. He hadn't been inside of an Animus since his capture a while ago, three years now he thought. Benjamin rose with them, though he turned to Walter and asked for a rather thick slice of cheesecake with a glass of milk. "Let's go." Austin said with a small nod, his eyes still reflecting fear.

Calum awoke groggily. He felt... odd. As if he had been awoken from a nightmare that felt never ending. Slowly, he sat up, scratching the back of his head - Wait... he thought, hand paused over his head. ...how am I scratching my head if I don't have most of my arms.... Due to the room he was in, he could not see it properly. Merely just that he had a new arm on his left, and half an arm on his right. He could merely assume his legs we replaced as well, due to the position of the blankets being pitched up. He waited for a bit, merely sitting there, contemplating how to react. He couldn't think of an appropriate response - what do you say when all of your limbs are replaced? Ask for people to call you Lord Vader?

(Sorry for late response. Also - might need a picture describing the limbs, via PM. Hard to explain bionic limbs without seeing bionic limbs.)