Please don't kill me!! (Hides behind something) I know i've been away for a LOOOONG time, but it's only because school is only getting worse.

Schoolwork sucks! And I apologize for not updating or anything, I really missed this story!

Disclaimer: T-T I bought the game, but sadly, not Altair... :(

--

Standing in front of the mirror in my room, I slapped my forehead, trying to wake myself up. My eyes were droopy, and I felt like I could sleep for another couple of days, without leaving the bed once.

Sighing, I heard a knock at my door as Rain and Malik entered.

"Oh! You're awake! So now we can get to practice earlier then expected!" Rain clapped her hands together in irony.

"So much for a good day, it looks as if it's going to rain," I replied out of the blue.

When I was tired, I would usually do things such as this.

"No, there isn't a cloud in sight. Are you alright, Serenity?" Malik approached me looking worried.

"Yeah… I'm alright, I'm just tired," I answered him through glazed eyes. Rain advanced on me and grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out of my room.

"I know what helps to wake me up in the morning, maybe it'll wake you up too!" Bringing me into the bathing room, she left me to stand at the side, yawning, to go fetch a cloth and dip it into the water.

"Here!" She shouted before tossing it into my face. I shrieked as the hot water made contact with my face before I had even registered what had happened. Clutching onto the cloth, I ripped it off of my face.

"What do you think you're doing?" I nearly screamed. I felt slightly more alert from having been surprised by the hot water in the cloth.

"Well, stick it back on your face, and rub it on your eyes, it should help get the sleep out of your eyes." Following instructions, I did what she told me to and only sighed in delight, as I felt wide-awake now.

Dropping the now cold cloth into her hand, I smiled before following Rain to the dirty clothes bin.

"Feeling better now?" I nodded, making Rain only laugh.

"You are one strange child. You know that right, Serenity?"

"Yeah… I know." Agreeing on the same thing, we turned to leave only to find a red faced Malik as he finished laughing.

"Nice face Serenity! Before the cloth had hit your face, you had the look of stricken terror written all over you." I pouted as he laughed once again at my strange antics.

Leaving the stronghold, we made our way to the courtyard-fighting ring. Entering the ring, Malik and I bowed before brandishing our swords and starting at each other.

--

Altair stumbled into the sodden earth as he tripped over one of the four assassins feet, and face-planted on the ground, eating a mouthful of dirt. Quickly jumping back up, he spit the dirt out, only to be knocked over again by a gruffer looking assassin.

Landing on his bottom, he rolled onto his side, just missing a kick to the head.

When he finally stopped rolling, he made sure that there was enough distance between him and the attackers before leaping up and onto his feet.

Readying himself for the next round of beatings, he ducked a fist that was meant to connect to his jaw, but instead, hit one of the others in the temple, making him flip sideways, reeling backwards before falling to the ground, unconscious.

Altair stopped for only a second, since the others looked in disbelief at the one assassins hand that had made a clashing connection into the one assassins jaw, who now laying on the ground, motionless.

Blinking in surprise, they all looked to each other before one tackled Altair to the ground.

"Ack!" he let out a grunt as he was landed on by one of them.

"Dead. Or… most likely dead, I think," the one perched on top of him said aloud. Groaning, Altair made a couple of meager attempts to get the heavier assassin off.

"Rackin, get off of him." One of them ordered before pulling him off and helping Altair up.

"Alright, very good, very good. Now, we venture back into the streets of Masyaf." Following orders, they all headed into the streets, and out of the stronghold.

--

I ducked and jumped until I couldn't do so anymore.

My thighs and back muscles were aching, and it felt hard to control them as I dodged the blade that swung at me mercilessly. I felt like a lead weight was tied onto my mid section as I felt the material rip when the sword made contact with my arm.

Hissing in pain, I ducked and fell to my knees. Malik breathed heavily.

"Dead…" He rasped out, his throat begging for water.

Sighing in exhaustion, we both decided to take a break, and head inside for some food and water.

Rain followed us, lowering her hood off of her head, allowing the breeze to ruffle her now tied back hair. Her face was pretty much tanned, as well as her hands.

"So much for my pale complexion," she muttered under her breath.

--

Altair ran across a hardly built rooftop, nearly tripping over his feet, when he heard the sound of another set of feet chasing after him.

Glancing back, he saw the same assassin from the day before, following in pursuit.

Cursing under his breath, Altair ran over to a ladder and descended to the ground, and started sprinting. Breathing ragged, he turned a corner, only to bump into something hard, and plunge backwards.

"Ah!" Altair closed his eyes, readying himself for impact; but it never came. Something had gripped onto his shoulder, keeping him from falling over.

Opening his eyes, he gazed into a pair of brown eyes, only to be startled from the one who had been chasing all along.

"H-how?" The assassin smirked, and let go of Altair's shoulder.

"Now, now Altair. We do not want to reveal out secrets… now do we?" He nodded. Altair felt a little suspicious, but shrugged it off and followed the assassin back into the stronghold.

--

After a nice long break, we were at it once again.

Sweat dripped off of Malik's face as I swung my blade brutally at him, just missing him by an inch. Dodging from side to side, Malik twirled around, taking my arm in the process, and wrapping around my back, making me come to a complete stop.

I felt his breath on the back of my neck as he held my arm in place, tightening his grip with every passing second.

"Ow!" I dropped my sword and fell to my knees, clenching my teeth in pain. Malik released my arm, without saying the word, which was his biggest mistake.

I grabbed my blade by its handle and swung my body around, standing up in the process, only to catch his right leg with my own leg, knocking him over.

Pointing my sword at his throat, he lifted his head only to be greeted by a shining blade, and a victory grin.

"Dead," I bellowed in triumph, defeating him had been my goal.

And it had been completed.

--

Altair stumbled around blindly, trying to find his way around the dead bodies that lay motionless on the floor, taunting him.

He had just been thrown into the room of rotting corpses, blindfolded, and told he was to find his way out, without any help. Crying out in frustration, he decided it would be acceptable to reach his hand out to feel around for the wall.

His fingertips just grazed a rough worn down piece of the brick wall before Altair moved foreword to make sure that it was actually there.

Standing with his face towards the barrier, he placed his hands on the wall to steady himself before turning around, and standing with his back flat up against it.

Turning his from head side to side, blindly, he sidled against the wall, making his way around the room carefully.

That is until Altair's hand had clutched onto something that was slimy, and felt very squishy.

Tilting his head towards the object that he was currently holding onto, he stopped dead in his tracks. Moving his hand around the item, he felt a sharp stick-like object stab into his hand.

Yelping, he jumped back, only to trip on one of the dead bodies, causing him to fall into a large pile of them.

Grabbing at the blindfold, he ripped it off, to find a broken off piece of bone, sticking out of his hand.

Eyes growing wide, he seized the bone fragment and tore it out of his hand, screaming loudly in the process.

Gazing at the wall, he saw a decaying body, chained to the wall, its neck was slashed open, and it belly was dissected, leaving its insides lying on the floor.

A rat seemed to be having a lucky day, for it was eating the person's spleen.

Altair cringed as he threw the bone to the ground and sobbed aloud.

Something sharp poked into his back, causing him to flinch before bolting from the ground and smashing into the wall.

Whirling around, he gasped as a rotten hand flew at his mid section, pinning him to the wall.

The fumes surrounded him like smoke from a fire, choking him, making him dizzy.

Wheezing, Altair screamed as another pair of skeletal hands reached out and grabbed at his face and robes.

"Altair! Are you alright?" A voice called out through the fog, waking Altair from his illusion.

Blinking repeatedly, he looked around cautiously, looking for the hands of death itself. Sighing in relief, he was dragged out of the cell, and out into the grounds, only to be blinded by the light.

"I… saw things…" He rasped, his voice quiet. The older assassin bent down to his height to examine his eyes.

"You are fatigued, and the fumes must have gotten to you. You must clean up, and rest. Go now, you are dismissed."

Bowing his head down, Altair followed instructions, and headed for the bathing area.

--

"Serenity, you have done well, you have taken another step towards achieving your goal. Now get some rest, you deserve it. You are dismissed," Rain finished off her speech before turning and heading inside.

Sighing, I trudged lazily back into my room, and face planted onto my bed, closing my eyes.

"Erg" I grunted as I turned over, pulling the red sash from around my waist and placing it on the floor beside my bed.

Tossing and turning, I reached around, yanking all of the uncomfortable gear off and tossing it to the floor.

Record set.

I had taken off all of the uncomfortable things, without getting out of bed.

'I wonder how Altair is doing… Oh well, I'll just talk to him tomorrow.'

My thoughts drifted off as I allowed sleep to overcome my consciousness

--

Gah! That was fun! I forgot how fun writing this stuff really was... wow... I can't believe how long it's been...

Sorry for the wait everyone! And my mind is a bit scrambled, since I haven't written on my story in awhile, so I kind of forgot all of my ideas... (sobs loudly)

-xXxSilentxXxAssassinxXx