Assassin's Creed: Brothers Unite (#Wattys2016) |Assassin's Creed Fanfiction|

Chapter 37 Ezio

   I watched Blade gallop away with Altaïr and wondered what he had been about to call James. It had started with 'M'. James jumped into the saddle and waved at me impatiently. "C'mon mate. Hurry up!"

   I jumped on behind the saddle and wrapped my arms around James so that I wouldn't fall off. James glanced back at me once, before snapping the reins. It was much harder to stay on without sitting in a saddle. I don't know how Archer could possibly be staying on Arrow's back, but he'd most likely done it before. Another factor was that this horse didn't have as smooth a gate as Blade. I was bouncing around for the two minutes it took to get back to the Homestead. The instant we stopped moving at super speed I put my hands between my legs and pushed myself off the horse backwards. I landed on my feet as James looked back at me. I smiled and headed towards the house.

   Blade trotted into the forest. Arno was saying something to Archer, who had a giant grin on his face. Arrow stood just behind Archer innocently munching on some grass. "And you!" Arno said, he sounded annoyed as he pointed at Arrow. "What were you thinking?"

   Arrow flatted his ears in an annoyed way and snorted. What was I thinking? Archer thought it would be fun and I agreed.

   "Thought what would be fun?" I asked walking over so that we made a triangle. "And what are you so mad about Arno?"

   "I asked Arrow to show me how far he could jump," Archer said. "He asked if I wanted to get off, I said no, and he jumped from this edge of the cliff behind Homestead and landed on the cliff over there." Archer pointed. "Arno was not impressed."

   That's an understatement, I thought. I grinned. "I don't see anything wrong with that."

   Arno glared at me. "You're just as bad!" he turned and stomped inside.

   "I wonder if he realized that it's still nighttime and everyone is most likely still asleep?" Archer said looking up at the window that would lead to Edward's room.

   "Probably not," I said. "I'll bet he woke Connor up anyway."

   James walked up the stairs, glancing at us once before going inside.

   "We should go inside," Archer said, glancing at Arrow. "You can't come in with us, sorry."

   Arrow snorted. If you need me, just call. He trotted off into the woods.

   I smiled as we walked inside. I moved as quietly as I could, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't run into anything. When I got to my room, I collapsed on the bed. I was just drifting into sleep when someone knocked on my door. It was so quiet I didn't notice until it came again. I sighed. "What?"

   The door opened and Altaïr limped in. I frowned. "You shouldn't be moving around yet."

   "I know," Altaïr said. "But I need to tell you what Edward told me about the Inner Brotherhood."

   I blinked. "The what?"

   Altaïr sighed. "The anchor is the mark of the Inner Brotherhood, didn't you know that?"

   I closed my eyes when I realized I would have to tell him why I didn't know. "I wasn't told anything about what I was doing, or why I was doing it. I still don't fully understand anything that I'm doing."

   When I opened my eyes I saw Altaïr studying me. He sat down in a chair by the window. "Why?"

   "Did Arno, Archer, or Edward tell you what happened in Firenze?"

   "Archer did."

   "Good, then I won't need to say it myself. When my... father... told me to get my robes out of the chest in his study he didn't tell me anything about them. All he said was something like 'Take everything out of the chest in my study, wear the clothes and take the papers to Uberto. Help will show itself one way or another'." I closed my eyes again. I didn't know if it was because of how I felt, or if it was because of exhaustion.

   "Sleep Ezio," Altaïr said quietly. "You need the rest."

   I lay back down on the bed. I expected Altaïr to leave, but he stayed and started humming. It didn't take long before I was starting to fall asleep. Something about Altaïr's humming made me relax. When he did leave, I was so close to sleep that I didn't notice.

   "Ezio! Wake up!" someone was shaking me. I opened my eyes and Edward was standing above me. "About time," he huffed. "I've been trying to wake you for the last several minutes."

   I grinned. "Talk about deja vu."

   Edward sighed. "You are a sound sleeper."

   I sat up and realized I was extremely sore. I winced and rolled my shoulders. "Ouch."

   Edward gave me a flat look. "It can't be as bad as a broken arm. Why are you sore anyway? All you did was stab Shay yesterday." He raised an eyebrow.

   "I have no idea," I lied, standing up and putting on my sword belt. I realized Edward was still staring at me. "What?"

   "Are you sure you don't know?" Edward asked.

   "N- yes."

   "Hmmm... You're not a good lier, we'll need to work on that."

   "When my father said you needed to train me I don't think that's what he meant."

   Edward grunted and walked out into the hallway. I figured everyone would probably be in the living room. I slipped my hidden blades onto my arms and headed to the living room. Nobody was there, not even Connor. I could hear people talking so I peered into the kitchen. There they are. I walked in and sat down.

   Aveline set a bowl down in front of me. "Eat up."

   It looked like soup. I wondered why soup was served for breakfast, but I was so hungry I didn't care. Connor was spinning his empty bowl on the table. He looked better than he had yesterday. His wrist was still bandaged and he didn't have a hidden blade on that hand. His side was also bandaged. He had a bruise on the his right cheek and all the way around his neck.

   "Altaïr, would you care to explain how you injured your leg and your shoulder without waking up anyone?" Aveline asked.

   "Nope,"Altaïr said. "That's something I would like to keep private." He shivered. "It almost killed me, I don't want to explain what that felt like."

   I didn't want him to explain it either. I remembered the black grassland, and the white glowing city. I didn't need to know how he saw it.

   "I know that feeling," Connor said. Then he seemed to realize what he said. "It didn't happen recently, several years back."

   "I remember," Archer said. "I don't think anyone needs to know how you did that though."

   Connor's face turned bright red and Altaïr laughed. "Really Connor?"

   I thought Connor was going to pass out with how red his face was. After Archer started laughing as well, everyone got going. Except for Connor.