04-25-2015, 02:15 PM
The Templar did not wake from his sleep, already running through a small and dark cobblestone corridor. Shay could sense something close. Someone, rather. He kept on running towards the end of the seemingly endless hallway of stone. He wasn't sure if he was trying to escape from whatever he sensed, or rather chase it.
The more Shay progressed into the corridor, the less he noticed what he was feeling. Instead, he couldn't feel anything. Shay didn't seem to realize if this was a dream or not, even though he suspected it most definitely was at this point. Shay could hear whispers in his head, intensifying the speed of his run. Upon finally reaching the end of the hallway, Shay's instincts told him to jump, and he took no second thoughts. Revving his legs backwards, Shay leapt into the air, swan diving at whatever awaited him at the bottom of his fall.
Shay's senses of fear were gone as he fell, yet he still didn't know what he would land on, or if he would land on anything at all. He knew he had motivation here for something, but he had no clue what it was. Shay only knew somebody was here. Watching him. Suddenly, Shay could feel something soft at his back, breaking his fall immediately. Sinking into whatever he fell onto, Shay recognized it as the favorable haystack. Getting out of the pile of hay he was inside of, Shay looked up, only to find the tall ceiling of the dark stone building, and a couple of wooden poles and platforms attached to the walls and suspended in the air, ropes scattered every so often, usually holding together the hanging platforms above Shay. Something about this place made it seem like a hideout of some sort, definitely meant for somebody more agile, considering everything was placed in such a way it was easily climbable, to Shay's amusement.
Jogging onward to the lowest ledge Shay could place his hands onto, he felt as if he was being watched again. The whispers got louder for Shay, although he knew they weren't really there. Hopping onto the protrusion coming out of the wall, Shay began his climb upwards. Shay looked above him once more, finding some sort of flooring parallel to the corridor he jumped out of. It was relatively far away, but Shay was certain he'd be able to get there. Continuing to jump up onto the small overhangs, Shay was quick on his feet, grabbing and leaping at any small slit or ridge he could find that led him more and more above ground. Shay only looked down once, not even surprised at how high he had already gotten in such a small amount of time. He still felt as if he couldn't take a break to slow down.
As Shay kept climbing up the wall, he noticed the only light sources were a few small castle windows at the very top of the wall itself, barely below the ceiling. It was obviously day outside, yet it felt as cold and dark as the night inside. Then again, Shay didn't know what to feel, not being able to feel anything at all. His mind was playing tricks on him, making this eerie dream seem strangely real. Almost instinctively hopping and climbing up, Shay saw a wooden platform above him. Jumping at it, he grabbed the ledge, quickly pulling himself up. It shook under his feet, wanting to break any second. Shay didn't notice at first, but the room he fell into was absolutely huge. He looked around him, realizing there would have been at least fifty other methods he could have used to climb up here, although it would most likely take the same amount of time. The overwhelming sense of being watched left him for a moment, until the very second he could see a strange silhouette of a hooded man dashing out of sight, already at the floor Shay was climbing towards.
Shay's eyes widened at the sight, before he looked forward to see a rope dangling from the ceiling, conveniently placed to be swung at a hopefully sturdy wooden pole protruding out of the wall across the one Shay was climbing beforehand. Running off of the platform, Shay dived at the rope, grabbing it as the momentum he gained swung him across the room. He released his grip at the end of the swing, dropping onto the small pole he aimed towards. At this point, Shay didn't stop to think once that one mistake would have had him fall to his wake, almost immediately jumping towards another slit in the wall above him. The closer and closer he got to the floor, the more platforms he jumped from, the more ropes and poles he swung, Shay knew now what he was in the middle of. A fight to determine who was the predator, and who was the prey. The Templar, or the Assassin.
Taking a final leap towards the floor, he hung from the ledge, looking behind him at the corridor this intensely real dream started. Pulling himself up, Shay looked to his right, and then his left, seeing a pair of torches lighting the tiny hallway he stood on now. In front of him, was yet another fall, but this time, the gap was closed by a shaky wooden bridge. At the end of the gap, he saw the exact same hallway in which he stood now, but only at the end, was a stone gate. Walking to the bridge, Shay took his first step, noticing the creaking wood threatening to push him over into the surprisingly deadly fall below. Shay squinted as he looked below, seeing roughly cut spikes coming out of the darkness of the dimly lit room. All around the room, however, was even more places he could have climbed to avoid walking across the bridge. Shay realized he had made a mistake when he saw a cloud of dust and sand fall in front of him, the whispers in his head turning into voices. He took a quick step backwards, the hooded figure suddenly making an entrance, slamming onto the bridge feet-first, shaking the bridge, almost making Shay fall off. A couple splinters flew from the ground as Shay noticed he had barely avoided being killed, the Assassin pulling it's hidden blade from the bridge it had accidentally stabbed.
The figure of the Assassin stood slowly in front of Shay, taking a menacing stance as it raised it's head to look at Shay dead in the eyes. Shay himself made his posture as straight as he could, showing no fear himself. The Assassin appeared to clearly be a woman, her bosom and feminine hips curving her mostly white Assassin outfit, with a few blue linings, and a black mask covering her slightly dusty face. Her blue waist sash was held together by a belt showing off a metal Assassin crest in the front, traced with floral engravings. Shay saw a single sword slung across the woman's back, sheathed. The fancy Cavalier hilt misled the appearance of blade itself, a normal yet long double edged sword, from what Shay could see in terms of how the sheath was shaped. Her forearms and hands were covered in engraved gauntlets, although no other armor was present on the woman herself, her outfit clearly meant for agility, mobility, and stealth. In Shay's moments of inspection, the woman held her hand at her sword, ready to pull it out of it's sheath.
Although Shay didn't notice before as a result of the adrenaline rushing through him, he saw at the bottom of his eye that he was wearing his own mask already. A short red Templar cape seemed to flow from Shay's right shoulder, his collar already popped upwards. In the moment the two soon-to-be combatants stared at each other with a poisonous look in their eyes, Shay balled his hands balled into fists, only his right hand making a leathery stretching sound, his left one however clanking in the silence, a gauntlet clearly present on the latter of Shay's two hands. It was as if these two figures represented the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order themselves, the clearest difference being shown in the appearance of both. Inhaling deeply, Shay quickly took a sudden fighting stance, and took his Sword and Dagger out of both sheaths at his side, the Assassin in front of Shay taking out hers at almost the exact same time. As the three blades drew, the metallic rip of them all leaving their cases rung through the silent air.
The Assassin made a low growling noise as she ran forward, Shay doing the same, only making a short battle cry. The Assassin took the offense, striking first, to which Shay easily predicted, blocking the attack of her large sword with his slightly shorter one. Taking the advantage of the interrupted momentum, Shay swiftly raised his right leg and kicked the woman in her gut, knocking her backwards, although she still stood, ready to take another swing. Suddenly, the Assassin's voice boomed throughout the room, clearly enraged now. "You die today, traitor!"
"I did what had to be done! Your Brotherhood was flawed, killing those who you vowed to protect without care, and yet you still blindly defend their actions! This is why I took you all down!" Shay raised his voice back to the Assassin woman, emphasizing his words with a clear tone of power that resulted in making the woman stop and think for a second. Shay noticed her hesitation, raising his confidence.
With a battle cry of her own, the Assassin took both of her hands to the hilt of her sword, swinging downwards at Shay. In the short moment he had to process this, he thought of two reasons this looked so predictable; either she was really that daft, or she was meaning to fake it out. Shay raised his sword in defense, and as he predicted, the blades didn't connect, the Assassin's sword coming backwards to make a much faster horizontal swing at Shay's torso, to which Shay narrowly ducked under. Taking her miss to his advantage, Shay made a stabbing motion with his left hand holding his Dagger, and to Shay's surprise, he noticed the woman's arm grabbing at Shay's wrist, pulling his entire body, and using that movement to smash her forehead into Shay's nose. Blood flew out of Shay's nostrils, his mask soaking it up to the best of it's ability. Shay didn't have time to really notice this however, as the Assassin's hand came back to Shay's head, pulling at his hair, bending his body back slightly. The Assassin raised her sword in her right hand, making a fast stabbing motion at Shay's torso.
The blade stopped dead in it's tracks only a few inches above Shay's sternum, his left hand grabbing at the woman's blade as hard as he could grip onto it. Blood trickled down Shay's hand as he dug his fingers into the blade, although he didn't care in the slightest, not feeling an inch of pain at all. Looking at the woman with a dead look of hatred in his eyes, he slowly stood higher than her as he grabbed the sword tighter. The Assassin's eyes widened as Shay shakily pushed away at her sword, and no matter how hard she tried, couldn't match Shay's grip. With all his strength, he took one foot backwards to regain his posture, and ripped the sword away from aiming at his chest with his barely armored left hand. Using his right arm, he slammed his elbow into the woman's forearm, forcefully taking her hand out of Shay's hair. Staggering backwards, the Assassin shook the bridge below her feet, Shay not caring in the slightest as he ran forward to attack once more.
The woman barely had time to raise her sword to block the oncoming strike of both Shay's Sword and Dagger coming down at the same time, once again making the Assassin lose her footing. Shay was only slightly impressed with the Assassin as she continued to block and dodge each of Shay's swift swings of his blades, the onslaught of strikes overwhelming the Assassin easily. Her breaths began to become wheezes as she had no choice but to waste all of her energy defending herself from Shay's attacks, Shay himself not being tired in the slightest. It was all still a dream, and he couldn't feel a single sense of pain, but Shay still kept swinging as if he was awake.
Stopping only for a second, the Assassin continued her attempts to stand up straight, only to be interrupted once more as Shay rams his shoulder into the woman's chest, knocking her over completely. Her sword flew to the side, only almost falling over the bridge itself. The woman desperately got up to her feet to grab it before it went over, only to have her ears greeted to the sound of Shay sheathing his blades and his right fist connecting to her jaw. Her head spiked in a surge of pain, her vision knocking into a blur. The blow took her near flying backwards, having her hooded head connect to the splintery bridge below, dazing her completely. Groaning in horrid pain, the Assassin slowly reached back to hold her head, clearly defeated now.
Shay walked over towards the downed Assassin, her bloodied face now completely shown as a result of the punch taking off her mask completely. Shay could see it in her eyes she was trying to hold back that she was completely terrified of the menacing Templar looming above her. The Assassin desperately popped out her hidden blades, to which Shay did the same. The woman raised her hands to defend herself, still not being able to move, still noticeably dizzy. Shaking his head, Shay put back his own hidden blades, walking over the woman's body, heading towards the gate. Although he didn't look back, he knew how confused the Assassin must have been at that moment. Shay knew he was in a dream now, and that his showing of mercy amounted to almost nothing, yet for some reason, he felt as if this meant something more than that.
Grabbing at the handle of the stone gate, Shay pulled it open with a mighty heave, blinded by a fading white light once more.
The more Shay progressed into the corridor, the less he noticed what he was feeling. Instead, he couldn't feel anything. Shay didn't seem to realize if this was a dream or not, even though he suspected it most definitely was at this point. Shay could hear whispers in his head, intensifying the speed of his run. Upon finally reaching the end of the hallway, Shay's instincts told him to jump, and he took no second thoughts. Revving his legs backwards, Shay leapt into the air, swan diving at whatever awaited him at the bottom of his fall.
Shay's senses of fear were gone as he fell, yet he still didn't know what he would land on, or if he would land on anything at all. He knew he had motivation here for something, but he had no clue what it was. Shay only knew somebody was here. Watching him. Suddenly, Shay could feel something soft at his back, breaking his fall immediately. Sinking into whatever he fell onto, Shay recognized it as the favorable haystack. Getting out of the pile of hay he was inside of, Shay looked up, only to find the tall ceiling of the dark stone building, and a couple of wooden poles and platforms attached to the walls and suspended in the air, ropes scattered every so often, usually holding together the hanging platforms above Shay. Something about this place made it seem like a hideout of some sort, definitely meant for somebody more agile, considering everything was placed in such a way it was easily climbable, to Shay's amusement.
Jogging onward to the lowest ledge Shay could place his hands onto, he felt as if he was being watched again. The whispers got louder for Shay, although he knew they weren't really there. Hopping onto the protrusion coming out of the wall, Shay began his climb upwards. Shay looked above him once more, finding some sort of flooring parallel to the corridor he jumped out of. It was relatively far away, but Shay was certain he'd be able to get there. Continuing to jump up onto the small overhangs, Shay was quick on his feet, grabbing and leaping at any small slit or ridge he could find that led him more and more above ground. Shay only looked down once, not even surprised at how high he had already gotten in such a small amount of time. He still felt as if he couldn't take a break to slow down.
As Shay kept climbing up the wall, he noticed the only light sources were a few small castle windows at the very top of the wall itself, barely below the ceiling. It was obviously day outside, yet it felt as cold and dark as the night inside. Then again, Shay didn't know what to feel, not being able to feel anything at all. His mind was playing tricks on him, making this eerie dream seem strangely real. Almost instinctively hopping and climbing up, Shay saw a wooden platform above him. Jumping at it, he grabbed the ledge, quickly pulling himself up. It shook under his feet, wanting to break any second. Shay didn't notice at first, but the room he fell into was absolutely huge. He looked around him, realizing there would have been at least fifty other methods he could have used to climb up here, although it would most likely take the same amount of time. The overwhelming sense of being watched left him for a moment, until the very second he could see a strange silhouette of a hooded man dashing out of sight, already at the floor Shay was climbing towards.
Shay's eyes widened at the sight, before he looked forward to see a rope dangling from the ceiling, conveniently placed to be swung at a hopefully sturdy wooden pole protruding out of the wall across the one Shay was climbing beforehand. Running off of the platform, Shay dived at the rope, grabbing it as the momentum he gained swung him across the room. He released his grip at the end of the swing, dropping onto the small pole he aimed towards. At this point, Shay didn't stop to think once that one mistake would have had him fall to his wake, almost immediately jumping towards another slit in the wall above him. The closer and closer he got to the floor, the more platforms he jumped from, the more ropes and poles he swung, Shay knew now what he was in the middle of. A fight to determine who was the predator, and who was the prey. The Templar, or the Assassin.
Taking a final leap towards the floor, he hung from the ledge, looking behind him at the corridor this intensely real dream started. Pulling himself up, Shay looked to his right, and then his left, seeing a pair of torches lighting the tiny hallway he stood on now. In front of him, was yet another fall, but this time, the gap was closed by a shaky wooden bridge. At the end of the gap, he saw the exact same hallway in which he stood now, but only at the end, was a stone gate. Walking to the bridge, Shay took his first step, noticing the creaking wood threatening to push him over into the surprisingly deadly fall below. Shay squinted as he looked below, seeing roughly cut spikes coming out of the darkness of the dimly lit room. All around the room, however, was even more places he could have climbed to avoid walking across the bridge. Shay realized he had made a mistake when he saw a cloud of dust and sand fall in front of him, the whispers in his head turning into voices. He took a quick step backwards, the hooded figure suddenly making an entrance, slamming onto the bridge feet-first, shaking the bridge, almost making Shay fall off. A couple splinters flew from the ground as Shay noticed he had barely avoided being killed, the Assassin pulling it's hidden blade from the bridge it had accidentally stabbed.
The figure of the Assassin stood slowly in front of Shay, taking a menacing stance as it raised it's head to look at Shay dead in the eyes. Shay himself made his posture as straight as he could, showing no fear himself. The Assassin appeared to clearly be a woman, her bosom and feminine hips curving her mostly white Assassin outfit, with a few blue linings, and a black mask covering her slightly dusty face. Her blue waist sash was held together by a belt showing off a metal Assassin crest in the front, traced with floral engravings. Shay saw a single sword slung across the woman's back, sheathed. The fancy Cavalier hilt misled the appearance of blade itself, a normal yet long double edged sword, from what Shay could see in terms of how the sheath was shaped. Her forearms and hands were covered in engraved gauntlets, although no other armor was present on the woman herself, her outfit clearly meant for agility, mobility, and stealth. In Shay's moments of inspection, the woman held her hand at her sword, ready to pull it out of it's sheath.
Although Shay didn't notice before as a result of the adrenaline rushing through him, he saw at the bottom of his eye that he was wearing his own mask already. A short red Templar cape seemed to flow from Shay's right shoulder, his collar already popped upwards. In the moment the two soon-to-be combatants stared at each other with a poisonous look in their eyes, Shay balled his hands balled into fists, only his right hand making a leathery stretching sound, his left one however clanking in the silence, a gauntlet clearly present on the latter of Shay's two hands. It was as if these two figures represented the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order themselves, the clearest difference being shown in the appearance of both. Inhaling deeply, Shay quickly took a sudden fighting stance, and took his Sword and Dagger out of both sheaths at his side, the Assassin in front of Shay taking out hers at almost the exact same time. As the three blades drew, the metallic rip of them all leaving their cases rung through the silent air.
The Assassin made a low growling noise as she ran forward, Shay doing the same, only making a short battle cry. The Assassin took the offense, striking first, to which Shay easily predicted, blocking the attack of her large sword with his slightly shorter one. Taking the advantage of the interrupted momentum, Shay swiftly raised his right leg and kicked the woman in her gut, knocking her backwards, although she still stood, ready to take another swing. Suddenly, the Assassin's voice boomed throughout the room, clearly enraged now. "You die today, traitor!"
"I did what had to be done! Your Brotherhood was flawed, killing those who you vowed to protect without care, and yet you still blindly defend their actions! This is why I took you all down!" Shay raised his voice back to the Assassin woman, emphasizing his words with a clear tone of power that resulted in making the woman stop and think for a second. Shay noticed her hesitation, raising his confidence.
With a battle cry of her own, the Assassin took both of her hands to the hilt of her sword, swinging downwards at Shay. In the short moment he had to process this, he thought of two reasons this looked so predictable; either she was really that daft, or she was meaning to fake it out. Shay raised his sword in defense, and as he predicted, the blades didn't connect, the Assassin's sword coming backwards to make a much faster horizontal swing at Shay's torso, to which Shay narrowly ducked under. Taking her miss to his advantage, Shay made a stabbing motion with his left hand holding his Dagger, and to Shay's surprise, he noticed the woman's arm grabbing at Shay's wrist, pulling his entire body, and using that movement to smash her forehead into Shay's nose. Blood flew out of Shay's nostrils, his mask soaking it up to the best of it's ability. Shay didn't have time to really notice this however, as the Assassin's hand came back to Shay's head, pulling at his hair, bending his body back slightly. The Assassin raised her sword in her right hand, making a fast stabbing motion at Shay's torso.
The blade stopped dead in it's tracks only a few inches above Shay's sternum, his left hand grabbing at the woman's blade as hard as he could grip onto it. Blood trickled down Shay's hand as he dug his fingers into the blade, although he didn't care in the slightest, not feeling an inch of pain at all. Looking at the woman with a dead look of hatred in his eyes, he slowly stood higher than her as he grabbed the sword tighter. The Assassin's eyes widened as Shay shakily pushed away at her sword, and no matter how hard she tried, couldn't match Shay's grip. With all his strength, he took one foot backwards to regain his posture, and ripped the sword away from aiming at his chest with his barely armored left hand. Using his right arm, he slammed his elbow into the woman's forearm, forcefully taking her hand out of Shay's hair. Staggering backwards, the Assassin shook the bridge below her feet, Shay not caring in the slightest as he ran forward to attack once more.
The woman barely had time to raise her sword to block the oncoming strike of both Shay's Sword and Dagger coming down at the same time, once again making the Assassin lose her footing. Shay was only slightly impressed with the Assassin as she continued to block and dodge each of Shay's swift swings of his blades, the onslaught of strikes overwhelming the Assassin easily. Her breaths began to become wheezes as she had no choice but to waste all of her energy defending herself from Shay's attacks, Shay himself not being tired in the slightest. It was all still a dream, and he couldn't feel a single sense of pain, but Shay still kept swinging as if he was awake.
Stopping only for a second, the Assassin continued her attempts to stand up straight, only to be interrupted once more as Shay rams his shoulder into the woman's chest, knocking her over completely. Her sword flew to the side, only almost falling over the bridge itself. The woman desperately got up to her feet to grab it before it went over, only to have her ears greeted to the sound of Shay sheathing his blades and his right fist connecting to her jaw. Her head spiked in a surge of pain, her vision knocking into a blur. The blow took her near flying backwards, having her hooded head connect to the splintery bridge below, dazing her completely. Groaning in horrid pain, the Assassin slowly reached back to hold her head, clearly defeated now.
Shay walked over towards the downed Assassin, her bloodied face now completely shown as a result of the punch taking off her mask completely. Shay could see it in her eyes she was trying to hold back that she was completely terrified of the menacing Templar looming above her. The Assassin desperately popped out her hidden blades, to which Shay did the same. The woman raised her hands to defend herself, still not being able to move, still noticeably dizzy. Shaking his head, Shay put back his own hidden blades, walking over the woman's body, heading towards the gate. Although he didn't look back, he knew how confused the Assassin must have been at that moment. Shay knew he was in a dream now, and that his showing of mercy amounted to almost nothing, yet for some reason, he felt as if this meant something more than that.
Grabbing at the handle of the stone gate, Shay pulled it open with a mighty heave, blinded by a fading white light once more.
![[Image: tumblr_nabdyeE81m1qcy62fo1_500.gif]](http://38.media.tumblr.com/62a0123e863be665cb97c8e9e9831315/tumblr_nabdyeE81m1qcy62fo1_500.gif)
"The air is still, and I am a hunter."