Was playing Assassin's Creed and thought this up. I'm just seeing what response it will get for now.

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Altair looked down on the city from the view point he had found near the entrance. He watched the guards walk the streets and to and from the castle that held his target. Ever since he killed Al Mualim three years ago he had taken over the Brotherhood he had taken on a student that reminded him from when he was a student. Bold, brave, confident, and skilled; however he did have his faults like arrogance, ignorance, and being too eager to make the kill. He looked down and saw his student finally making it three quarters of the way up. Just the year before, the boy took three times as long to get to where he was now; he learned fast and became stronger.

"Master Altair;" the boy said as he took a deep breath "why must we waste our time by doing this? Would it not be easier, simpler, and faster to simply sneak in through the top of the castle and kill the bastard in his sleep?"

The Head of the Brotherhood let out a sigh. This is the reason he doesn't trust his student to kill a target on his own; he's too focused on just killing the target and being done with it. The boy followed the Creed, but lacked patience; he has tried to fix that by having the boy meditate, but that hasn't worked. That was the reason he hasn't promoted the boy above Novice; it was patience that allowed the Assassins before him to advance and it will be patience that will let him advance.

"What do you know about this man? When will we strike? How do you plan to get into and out of the castle? You know nothing about the target and it could cost you more than being stuck as a Novice."

"He is a glutton that forces the people in this city to starve while he is fat and goriest; even his own servants fear taking a bite to eat from his plate and have grown thin and fragile."

"Your ignorance will cost you our life" Altair warned "what of his guards? How many archers does he have employed; does he have Templars amongst his ranks; when are there openings in patrols? These are only the basic things you must know to make a proper kill and escape. Knowledge is the greatest weapon an Assassin has, but first you must obtain it;" without looking at his student "or are you fearful that you cannot obtain simple knowledge?"

"I FEAR NOTHING!" the student shouted.

His master knew this and always questioned his bravery when a new mission came up. Every time he gave the same answer and his master gave the same response.

"Then prove it;" as he held his hand out pointing to the edge of the tower "take the leap and meet me at the Bureau in four hours with everything you have learned. If I feel you have learned enough, we shall go make the kill."

The boy didn't hesitate to take a running jump from the roof and land in a large hay stack that was next to a horse stall. Altair had a bad feeling about this mission, but he brushed it off as he went to meet with the informants he sent a week ahead of him. Blending into the crowds, he made his way to the Bureau where he would meet with his informants. The guards appeared to be far more alert than he hoped; they were very suspicious of everyone in the streets, and focused on him more.

He climbed the roof to the Bureau and jumped in. His three informants already there talking amongst themselves about how to test Altair's student; one had already staked claim on using the flag excuse and aggravated his brothers. That only left one more to use, the infamous 'I was tracking the target and two of his guards saw my face' trick; while that was easy to pull off, it would mean that one of the tests would have to be used again which could cause suspicion from his student. The bickering was starting to annoy the keeper behind the desk and it showed as he rubbed his temples. This was the first time three informants had been used on one target, but Altair saw this as necessary to test his student.

"Safety and Peace Brothers;" Altair said as he entered.

"Safety and Peace; Master Altair" the four men said back.

"Tell me what you have learned about our target."

"While I was observing his castle" the first informant began "I noticed that an archer on the west most corner has fallen asleep everyday that I have observed the place. His shift is from three to nine in the morning; after the first hour is when he begins to nod off, that will be the perfect time to sneak by him, or you can wait till he falls asleep and slit his throat then."

"Very well," Altair said "go to your post and await my student."

"The glutinous noble always has the food deliveries stopped before they enter the city;" the second said "it is from the same farm north of here and it would prove difficult to poison the food without drawing suspicion seeing how his servants have many guards with them at the time. However, the food is loaded onto a second wagon; I myself have seen the bottom of the wagon, you can hold yourself up on it and use poisoned daggers to contaminate the food."

"That could cause an innocent to be killed; however, we can use the wagon to gain entrance to the castle;" Altair said bluntly "is there anything more useful you have learned?"

"There is one pastry that he has killed a servant for touching;" he continued "it would be safe to assume that you should poison that to slay this man. The kitchen is on the west side of the castle and the window is always open due to the heat; slipping in, poisoning the pastry and slipping back out shouldn't be a problem for your skill level Master Altair."

"Be sure to be specific about which pastry when you tell my student this information."

With that the informant bowed and left.

"Here is what I have learned;" the last informant began "because the castle is next to a river, there is a small stream that runs from west to east through the court yard. If you hold your breath long enough, you can make it all the way across without being spotted. Once on the east side of the court yard, there is a grate in the water that is rusting away and should be easy to remove…"

"I assume you tested it" cutting him off.

"Of course, Master Altair; when you have the grate removed you will be in the horse stables. There is a rose bush that grows from the ground all the way up to the noble's room, who happens to leave his window open except when it gets cold, or rains."

"Good, now we can poison his pastry and make sure that he is dead. Pass the information on to my student after he passes your test."

Altair looked at the keeper of the Bureau, who had been in thought ever since the second informant left.

"What is on your mind Brother?" Altair asked.

"I find it odd that Kesif knew about the servant getting killed over a pastry, but failed to mention a path into the castle."

"Yes, that is peculiar" he agreed "but we must trust his information and ensure this glutton's death. I have information that shows he is connected to the Templars and their attempts to enlarge their forces. He starves the people, and then the Templars come and offer them a way to get stronger and food; when facing starvation, servitude doesn't sound so bad."

The keeper nodded and went back to copying the book he was employed to copy. That was the cover of every Bureau throughout the lands; it was a simple thing to do, made good profits, and, best of all, it took time which meant that the Bureau was empty most of the time. Whenever there was a customer in the Bureau, it was easy to pass off an Assassin as just another customer coming to pick up a book, or scroll, that had been paid for in advance. Most of the time it was a scroll that had important information in it, as well as a white feather to use to collect some of the target's blood as proof of death.

Altair spent the next three and a half hours meditating on what his informants learned and devising a plan to get in and out. They would use the wagon to get into the castle and close to the kitchen. From there they will slip through the opened window of the kitchen, poison the pastry, and slip out towards the river. When night approached, they would use the stream to get into the horse stables and climb the rose bush to confirm the kill. From there, they can slip pass the sleeping archer on the west corner of the castle.

As the fourth hour approached, Altair waited for his student to return; only as the time approached, his student didn't. The feeling he had earlier was starting to return, and this time he couldn't just brush it off; not after what the keeper said about Kesif. Something was wrong, and he knew it. He got up, left the Bureau the same way he entered, and jumped down into the streets to head to the castle. There were fewer guards walking the streets now; it wasn't time for a shift change, which was still two hours away, so what was going on?

"Wonderful day for a walk, isn't it?" Altair asked one of his informants.

"Not as good as last week" he replied.

"Has my student come by you yet?"

"No," he replied with concern "he has yet to return to you?"

"Yes;" the master assassin said "he should have come to see you by now…"

Just then, a bell started to sound from the castle. Both Altair's and the informant's eyes widened; they knew what that meant, an intruder in the castle. Altair took off to the castle to save his student; he jumped up the side of the closest building and landed on the roof before taking off again. An archer guard started to reach for an arrow when he saw the white cloaked man running towards him, but was too slow and was greeted by the extension blade on Altair's wrist; as soon as the master assassin retracted the blade, he was in a full sprint in a matter of milliseconds.

He jumped from the roof to the wall surrounding the castle and took out the guard as he landed. As he ran he threw two knives simultaneously and killed an archer and a normal guard. The two bodies fell to the ground below and startled the group of guards on break. There was an opened window to his left that was about five feet lower than the wall he was on; taking the opening, he jumped into the window, rolled to control his impact, and used his throwing knives to kill a guard that had walked out of a room. By time the guard hit the ground, the master assassin was running to locate his student and retreat. He saw an opened door that led to a massive room and his student standing over a dead guard.

"Master Altair?" with a confused tone "Kesif said that you wanted to test me to see if I could handle this on my own."

Altair filled with anger; the keeper was right about Kesif, while he himself was blind. Their supposed Brother had betrayed them and now they had to evacuate from the city.

"We must retreat," Altair said "we have been betrayed" as he turned to see three squads of Templars run down the stairs around them "back to back" he ordered as he drew his short sword for himself and tossed his student his long sword.

Altair used his bracer to deflect a sword and then used his own to slit the Templar's throat just underneath the helmet. He heard the tell-tale noise of chainmail being split apart just before there was a heavy thump on the stone floor. The Master Assassin threw three knives at once and killed two more Templars while injuring the arm that held the sword of a third. That was all they needed for an opening to be created, and they ran down the hall to the large glass window; the master assassin threw four knives and shattered it. The master and student saw the top of the wall and quickened their pace so they could make the jump. The two jumped out the window and made it to the wall; Altair noticed the archers already positioned on the roof of the castle aiming down at them.

"DON'T STOP!" he shouted at his student as he grabbed him and continued running.

They headed to the western end of the castle so they could make their escape into the river. The river was their safest route out of the city; their only route now that word of their presence had spread to the gate. Three guards climbed the ladder that was fifty feet from their target edge and started shooting arrows at them. Altair took one to the right side of his chest just beside his holster for his short sword; that didn't slow him down though. The master assassin pulled the last two throwing knives he had left, threw them at two of the guards, killing them, and used his extension blade to kill the third.

"Jump into the river!" he ordered his student as he got up.

His student did as he was ordered and jumped from the edge into the water below. Altair began his run again, but took another arrow in the back right next to his shoulder blade. He did his best to continue, but felt extremely weakened now thanks to the blood loss. As he leapt from the roof, three more arrows struck him; one through his right lung, another his right forearm, and the third next to his heart. The arrows were enough to throw off his body from the proper position to land in the water; when he hit it, he felt like he just jumped from five stories into nothing but the hard street. The pain caused him to black out.

"MASTER ALTAIR! MASTER ALTAIR!" he heard as he slowly regained consciousness.

"I'm over here" he called out as he picked himself up off the rocky shore he drifted to.

"MASTER ALTAIR!" he heard again.

"Do you still have water in your ears?" Altair snapped at his student.

His student stopped running and fell to his knees for some reason with tears running down his face.

"Master Altair…" with a harsh voice "please, forgive me;" as even more tears followed.

"I'm still alive, now help me with these arrows;" as he pulled the one in his forearm out and winced in pain "I gave you an order!"

His student only crawled on the rocky shore pass him, tears dripping onto the ground with each step he took.

"I'm sorry Master Altair;" as sobs started "I failed to be patient as you told me and it cost you your life. I believed you had faith in my abilities and failed to see that it was a trap. I failed you as a student my Master; please forgive me."

Altair's eyes widened as he looked at the body on the rocky beach where he had just pulled himself up from; it was his own. He looked down at his chest and saw a chain attached to it; he slowly reached for it, but was stopped by a hand.

"That would be most unwise" the person said in a strong voice.

The master assassin looked at the source of the voice and saw an old man that was bald, had a long white beard that went down his front, and had an X scar on his forehead. He was dressed in an unusual black outfit and held a wooden cane in his hand.

"Should you remove your Chain of Fate you will become a Hollow" he said.

"What in God's name is a 'hollow', who are you, and why can't my student hear us?"

"You are dead; assassin" he explained "you must move on to the Soul Society, or you will become a Hollow and I will be forced to slay you."

"Strong words coming from such an old man" Altair said as he drew his short sword.

"That would be most unwise;" as he looked unfazed "now I must perform a Konso. Should you stay in the world of the living, you will become a Hollow and kill countless innocent. Is that what you wish assassin?"

Altair looked at his student; memories of when he was first training the boy flooded his mind. He recited the tenants of their Brotherhood to his student while teaching him hand to hand combat. 'Never harm the innocent'; that was the first tenant he had beat into his student's head.

"No," as he sheathed his blade.

He walked over to his student and placed his hand on his shoulder. The boy looked over to his shoulder as he felt the slight pressure on it. Altair could see into the boy's eyes, despite his head being covered by the hood.

"I'm unsure if you can hear me, but I do not blame you for my death;" in a sincere tone "you were deceived, just as I was over three years ago. I have but one request, that you watch after my son and teach him the Creed and ways of the Brotherhood."

"I give you my word Master Altair;" as he looked back to his master's body "I will teach your son everything I can about being an assassin and I will beg for his forgiveness for taking you from him."

Altair let go of his student and looked back to the old man that stopped him from ripping out his 'Chain of Fate'. With a simple nod, he let the man know he was ready to move on to the next life; be it heaven or hell. Neither would surprise him for the sins he had committed, but at the same time he would be surprised. All his life he has killed to protect the innocent; while killing was a sin, he was told it was for the good of mankind. 'Kill one to save many', those were the words of Al Mualim; so they were hard to believe now.

"What is it you assassin's say; Requiescat in pace?" the old man asked as the top of his cane disintegrated and revealed a hilt.

"Yes;" Altair answered "and thank you for the final right" as he closed his eyes.

The old man drew his sword and poked the hooded man's forehead with the butt of the hilt. The master assassin suddenly felt warm all over as his body began to glow. He could feel his legs begin to disintegrate as the warm feeling increased; eventually, his entire body disintegrated. When he opened his eyes again, he expected to see the fires of hell around him but instead saw buildings that had unusual architecture to him. They were small, with sliding doors rather than ones that swung, the roofs were more slanted than he was used to seeing, and there were spheres hanging from ropes on the corners.

"This is the Soul Society huh?" with a chuckle "I wonder how my life will be here" as he rubbed his chest.

His eyes widened as he noticed the arrow that was in his chest was now gone and the wound was healed. He walked to the river next to the street he was on and saw all the arrows were missing and his wounds healed. A smile grew on his face as he saw that he was still wearing his assassin attire; maybe he could continue his work here.