This was co-written with MissRedZelda

Well its been a while and one identity crisis later (why did I start a My Little Pony story?), but we're back on track! Over the past few months I've recently gotten into Assassin's Creed in a big way. I mean I may have gotten the Assassin's crest tattooed on my chest, but I'm pretty sure I have it under control. Anyway, fellow FF writer MissRedZelda and I have been working on this plot for a while and finally we've got some stuff to post. Hope you all like it!

Chapter One

The aftermath was a wash of blood. There was almost no distinction between what was once a humble French countryside to what was now a wounded battleground. Smoke rose into the air and the wind smelled of cleaved flesh and bone. The circling buzzards knew that their finest meal had long been served; they need only have waited for those that remained to take their leave. Everywhere one could step, there laid the casualties of both sides. Yet the numbers on both sides were still minute compared to that of conventionally sized armies; this was a battle fought between families.

A lone combatant steadily walked toward a fallen figure. He staggered slightly. He kept a hand close to his side, trying to dull the pain of a fresh injury. Closer he drew to the form of the weathered warrior, and with every step the lamentation in his eyes grew. There was a long blade attached to his arm, which he retracted with a simple flick of the wrist. As soon as he was but another step away from the figure, he dropped to his knees and paused.

"Mia figlia (my daughter)….," his voice was low and carried deep sorrow. "….How could I have failed you so….?"

Then came a sudden darkening of the skies; the air around them grew restless and began swirling about continuously. The world around them shook, as though a great storm was showing its wrath. At once the ground ripped like shattering ice, engulfing all around it. The visage of the pair tore away with the rest of the world. Nothing could be seen in its entirety. All was chaotic and free of order. The slightest attempt to grasp anything mortal only resulted in more tumult.

"This is how you would live?!" The voice was astonished, terrified even. "You would die and no one would ever know you existed!"

"No…we shall never die…"

At once the great storm that was their world engulfed everything, and all was turned to blinding light-

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The young teenager was suddenly roused from her slumber, as well as her chaotic dream, once again that morning. The snooze function on her alarm nearly begged for a reprieve. Her dreary eyes looked about aimlessly, trying to track the source of the sound. She blindly reached about until her hand found the alarm and switched it off. Silence replaced the alarm's shrill shriek. As she lay there, she tried to make sense of the performance her subconscious had put on for her. However, like most dreams, its very image had already begun to leave her memory. She soon found that she had no choice but to accept that morning had indeed reared is early head, and it was now time to rise.

The irritated voice of a woman then called up from downstairs, "Cadence! You need to get up. Breakfast's getting cold."

"I know mum," she quietly groaned. "I heard you first…..thirty thousand times…" Her alarm switched off, and her mother momentarily ignored, Cadence rolled over and began drifted back off. It was not a difficult thing to do. London weather was cold this time a year, making a toasty bed the closest of friend; soft and war-

"CADENCE!"

Uttering a growl that would have turned a Kodiak green with envy, Cadence tossed aside her comforter and creakily sat up off the edge of the bed. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned considerably. She did not walk so much as shuffled across the floor to her closet, picking through her clothes for the day. First, a choice of threads, then a shower and finally a bit of makeup. It was a simple regiment, and one that she sometimes proudly stated that she could now almost perform while still asleep.

Cadence Bennet was a thin lovely young lady, currently finishing her third year of high school. Her brown hair never needed much tending but it did take a few brush strokes to get it to its customary smoothness. One would never call her a grumpy person, yet it would be clear very early on that she was not what some would call a "morning person."

Having quickly hopped in and out of the shower, Cadence was soon making her way downstairs and into the kitchen. Her mother was sitting at the table, reading the paper with her coffee sitting carefully in a saucer beside her. Lenore Bennet was a very tidy woman who aged gracefully. There was not a single grey strand on her head, and her brown eyes were very warm and inviting. One look about any room of the house and one could easily see how incredibly organized she was. Everything possessed a proper place, and if it were a document there was a tab and a footnote for it.

Cadence swiftly walked by her mother, giving her a quick hug from behind as she passed.

"Morning mum."

"Morning dear. Now yer gonna have to scarf those eggs I'm afraid, if you want to catch your bus."

"I know mum, overslept," said Cadence absently as she drew items for a lunch from the cupboard. "Sorry…"

Her mother shrugged, "I'm not mad, just means you have less time to do hardly anything at all and-and! You had better be making yourself a sandwich as well; a banana and crisps is not a lunch."

"That's what the café is for," she replied tiresomely.

Cadence's mother rubbed her brow. "You don't have any more money on your card, make a damn sandwich."

"Okay!" Said Cadence through gritted teeth.

"Good, now when were you getting back today?"

"Not till about nine, we're going straight there."

Lenore nodded, the memory returning to her. "Right, your class trip to Abstergo. Pay attention while you're there, there's more to that place than just apothecaries." Cadence nodded silently. "Job fairs aren't just sideshows, they're meant to be taken advantage of."

"I know what you mean," said Cadence as she sat down before her room temperature eggs. "I can always use a reprieve from maths."

"Cadence," her mother said while holding her coffee cup close to her mouth.

"Alright, alright…I'll scout for something. Although I can't see what a pharmaceutical company could offer me." She stuffed a forkful of eggs into her mouth; her coffee was not far behind.

Lenore smiled with an enthusiastic nod. "That's the fun of it, you never know!"

Cadence and Lenore exchanged somewhat awkward smiles. Cadence shook her head and gulped down some more of her eggs.

"So, what kept you from early rising this morning," Lenore continued.

"Oh its nothing, just didn't feeling like getting up." She said with a fake chortle. She looked at her mother again and saw that Lenore was simply staring at her while she slowly stirred her coffee. "Nothing….too rambunctious."

"Dreams again?" Her mother asked. Cadence rolled her eyes and began chopping at her eggs. "You can't just pretend like I don't hear you thumping about in your sleep. Honestly, I'm surprised the neighbors haven't complained yet." Cadence set her fork upon her plate with a bit of 'attitude' and sat back in her chair. For a moment it appeared as though her "denial shields" may still be up, but her shoulders soon settled and she let her palms rest on her legs.

"You know I've had bad dreams before; loads of them. But this…mum I've ever had anything like these before."

Her mother nodded, "What happened?" Her voice was steady, probing.

Cadence shook her head. "I don't know. Its gets clearer every time and yet it makes less and less sense. It's….It's as though I'm watching someone else's life; someone close…"

Lenore looked intently at Cadence, as though hoping more would come from her daughter. However, as Cadence thought more about it the more she decided she might be giving something as innocuous as a dream far too much attention.

"Like I said, mum, it's probably nothing."

Lenore nodded, looking oddly relieved. "Well, do be careful talking about this in the future." Cadence regarded her mother oddly. For a long moment, her mother merely kept a steely gaze; then Lenore broadly smiled. "Your story may attract some supernatural entrepreneur!"

This time Cadence legitimately laughed. "Sure, mum. Ohhhh," she sighed glancing at her watch. "Gotta go." She stepped behind the kitchen counter for her backpack.

"Oh! Your toast."

"Gotf it!" The toasted piece of bread was clenched between Cadence's teeth when she rounded the corner again. She slung her pack on her back and trotted toward the door. "Fye Mum!" She said through a full mouth.

"Bye dear!-Oh and take an umbrella, the man says it's gonna-"

SLAM

"Hmm…..rain…"

Cadence nearly skipped down the small flight of steps leading down to the sidewalk. The street beside their tall and skinny building was awash with activity; cars, cabs and buses drove by in either direction. The clouds were indeed thick but no rain was falling as of yet. She had only a moment to check her smart phone before resuming her course to the nearest bus station. Though she and her mother had lived in a more rural part of England, they found Southfields to be a very nice place to resettle.

Cadence drew nearer to the bus station and immediately spotted her neighbor and best friend already waiting and furiously texting on her phone. Cadence quickened her pace and began waving.

"Holly!"

Holly looked away from her phone and smiled. "Hey!" Cadence met Holly a few weeks after she and her mother had moved in. Lenore had grown tired of Cadence loafing about the house and insisted that she knock on a few doors and introduce herself. Along the way she acquainted herself with a couple from Kenya, a lady actually possessing thirty cats and an old gentleman who was under the impression that he was still a double agent for the S.A.S. Finally, however, she arrived at Holly's house. Holly was always a jovial soul and very much enjoyed socializing. She was a red head, about Cadence's height and dark green eyes. After Cadence timidly explained herself, Holly immediately invited Cadence in and the rest was history.

Holly still typed vigorously on her phone. "You uhh…you fancy a breakfast sandwich?"

Cadence shook her head. "Naa, I ate. Not much but it does the tri-" Her voice trailed off when she noticed what Holly was doing. "Oh my God! Y-You're really posting that?!"

"Course I am," said Holly with a smirk. "Who wouldn't relish seeing you in a funny hat?"

Cadence made a grab for it but Holly kept it out of reach. "Erase it!"

"Can't now, it's in cyberspace." Their bus finally pulled up and began disembarking passengers.

Cadence narrowed her eyes and pointed a warning finger at her friend. The two of them stepped on and found a couple of seats near the rear of the bus. As though having been conditioned to do so at every free moment, they both once again checked social status updates. Cadence was already dreading the fallout of Holly's latest post.

"You see how many likes it's already got?" asked Holly. "You might consider a change to your wardrobe."

Cadence folded her arms. "Oh shut up."

"Alright, I'll take it down if it'll make you nice again. Just a bit of fun."

Cadence shook her head and looked out of her window. "Sorry, it's not really that."

"Oh?" Holly stowed away her phone. "Something wrong?"

Cadence lowered her eyes a bit. Her fingers intertwined with themselves. The more Cadence remained silent the more Holly grew concerned.

"Okay, seriously…..I'm starting to worry."

"It's….well it's probably nothing really." Holly held her gaze, unconvinced. The talk Cadence had had with her mother, though finished, had not lost any of its potency. Cadence shook her head and faced Holly. "I don't know…I…I feel like something's off."

"Off," repeated Holly, trying to understand.

"I've been having this crazy dream for a little while now, each time it gets more intense. There's a man and a young figure, one of them is dying I think…" Holly continued to gaze and listen. "Everything then blows up into some kind of cosmic mess….what do you think it means?"

Holly shifted her eyes about for a moment, and then shrugged her shoulders. "Too much telly?" Cadence sighed and looked back out of her window. Holly's face fell somewhat. She simply couldn't see what was troubling her friend.

"I'm kinda hoping you're right."

"Maybe you ought to write this dream of yours down," Holly suggested.

Cadence shrugged, "And then what? Am I supposed to meditate on it or something?"

"Well it seems like 'nothing' isn't really getting you anywhere." Cadence nodded offhandedly. "I don't know, Cadence. I guess I'm suggesting that you try something; keeping these kinds of things to yourself, historically not healthy."

Cadence smiled. "Thanks, I'll think of something."

Soon they arrived at their destination for the day. It was a very large and imposing office building surrounded by a tall yet ornately decorated iron fence. Abstergo Industries had always been quite the enigmatic entity, despite its name having long ago invaded every home in the civilized world. Everyone craned for a look outside their windows. Cadence sank back somewhat in her chair so that Holly could move over for a look of her own. They watched a man from the gate house approached the bus driver's window. He stood there for a moment; authenticating the day pass he'd been handed. Once the guard was satisfied he stepped back and motioned for the driver to continue. As they slowly drove by Cadence and Holly noticed other guards scattered about the grounds; some talked amongst themselves while others stood alone and holding rather intimidating rifles.

"Those are big," said Holly.

Cadence shrugged. "But necessary…I guess."

The bus came to a halt outside the main entrance with a short bump. One by one they stepped off the bus and formed a small crowd before the doorway. Cadence and Holly kept their bags with them and let their eyes roam over the enormous building and beautifully kept grounds.

"Think we'll need one of those fancy passes to get out?" asked Cadence.

Holly chuckled. "Hehe, let's hope not."

At once the doors slid open and everyone silenced. A small group of employees, some wearing lab coats and some in business suits, stepped out to meet them. One was an aged man with a white beard. He beamed at all of them and then spread his arms.

"Good day and welcome everyone! We don't open our doors like this often but when we do we do so with pure excitement! Soon you'll be introduced to some of the greatest endeavors in medicine and science and hopefully…." He cast his eyes about the entire group. "A bright future."

Cadence smiled at his over-dramatization.

"I am Dr. Warren Vidic, and allow me to welcome you to Abstergo!"

Alright, so what did you guys think? Any comments or "constructive criticism"? Now we know not much happens in this first chapter but what we're doing is solving something that I kind of had a problem with in the first game. In AC1, things just start happening out of nowhere without warning. Nothing is set up or explained until a third of the way in. Whatever, this is a written story so more has to be told in the beginning. So bear with us, it always picks up. ;-) Hope you all liked it! See ya next chapter!