Shadows: Whisper | Assassin's Creed

[Dusset]

((I have Cullen's themesong playing on a loop (it just so happens to have Irish flutes in it ^^) to get into the mindset for him. Which is counter-intuitive since that gen isn't for a bit.))

 

Hermes smiled softly and scooted over closer, into the open 'wing' of Calypso's jacket. He almost chuckled, normally it would be the man in any situation offering such things. But not now. "Much appreciated." He said, as he pressed close to her, trying his hardest to slow his beating heart. It felt like it was going to explode. After a minute or so, he was finally satisfied with his level of warmth. A little fire, his own coat, Calypso's coat and she herself. And he liked it, and he couldn't deny the simple fact that he enjoyed her company beyond being a friend. But he was worried about her feelings.

 

((You could have her notice his heart beat and ask him what's up. Get this moving.))

[RainDash]

Calypso blinked her golden eyes, realizing how close Hermes was. She could practically hear his heart beating, and she wondered why he was nervous. She was nervous, but she wasn't sure if it was for the same reason. Hermes was pretty nice to her and she didn't want to ruin the relationship they had. However, her mouth ran before her mind. "Why's your heart beating so fast?" She noticed Zero and Kaethe in the cave, talking about sharing a sheet, and how they loved one another. She wondered if what she felt was love. She had a few emotions. Fear, anger, and was love among them? She didn't like being this close to anyone else, in fact it would make her panic. Hermes was a demi-god, and blessed by his namesake. He could be trusted, but what did that mean? She attempted to scoot closer to Hermes, biting the inside of her cheek nervously. He wasn't going to grab her, but she could still feel those icy cold fingers around her neck. Her own heart was beating too fast, she hoped he wouldn't notice. She hoped it was just the fire making her face this hot. He probably didn't like her at all, she was a bad teacher and he was only lying to make her feel better...

[Dusset]

Hermes was having enough trouble with this and then she noticed his heart's pace. But when she pulled closer, he could feel her's. She... She did. Didn't she? She felt the same way. It only made sense! The got tongue tied when something came up that might imply more than friends. They were huddled close together, and both their hearts were racing. Damnit, he almost died, and he still might. If he was going to live he had to start taking what he wanted, emotionally, since physically he did. They were close enough that all he had to do was lean in. His lips met her's and his chest combusted. His stomach dropped and his ears were lit ablaze. He hadn't been intimate with a woman since Larissa; and even then it had been years.

He felt invincible. Like he could run out of the cave and fly. That if he was shot then and there, it would just bounce right off. If he was set on fire it would just go out. Nothing could hurt him.

And then he pulled back.

His confidence fell and he felt vulnerable. Like a single water drop would dissolve him. The lightest breeze might knock him over. A single bump could shatter his recovering soul.

And it terrified him.

But he stared into Calypso's eyes and had no words to express how he felt. He'd just ridden an emotional roller coaster in the dark and was waiting to emerge into the light, where he could see if she'd ridden it with him. And he prayed to every God he knew that she had.

Edited September 10, 2013 by Dusset

[RainDash]

If felt as though her whole head was on fire when he kissed her. He hopes to get extra credit, dear. Why would he love you? He's just going to use you, because, that's all you are to them. That's what the Creed does, and that's what the Athenians that you were once a part of did. She'd never been this close to anyone since her escape, physically or emotionally. As he stared into her eyes, she was scared. He was waiting on an answer. Supposedly, she was supposed to leap into his arms and kiss back. Instead, her head brought up the image of him beaten and bloody again. The edge of a sword hanging just a hair's breadth from his neck in the fraction of a second before it cut through. She was happy though. She knew she liked Hermes, and she could see that rejection would kill him. However, they couldn't be together like that. Emotionally, she was okay with. This kissing, any closer, and she'd panic. Already she could see the memories bubbling up from inky darkness, the hands once more crushing the air our of her and her chest tightening. She moved forward slightly, as if trying to lean in for another kiss, but pulled back. What if he really was just using her? Yet, she could feel the necklace layered on top her heart reminding her that no one had bothered to go that far. She reached for his hand, trying to deal with one thing at a time. "I- I love you too..." Was that something that she could say? Was that acceptable? She didn't know what lovers said to each other. Or what to do next. She was so scared...

[Dusset]

Hermes couldn't be more relieved when she took his hand and said she loved him, too. He wasn't quite expecting that particular response, but he was happy with it. He felt his chest slow, but, just a little. He was still pretty tongue-tied, and he couldn't really reply. So he just hugged her. He held her tight between his arms and stayed like that for a minute. "I'm... Very happy." He finally got out. He pulled back and kept his hand with her's. "I don't want this to get in the way of my training. But... I don't want training to get in the way of this, more."

 

((School.))

[RainDash]

He was hugging her now. The friendly gesture felt like it was killing her. It was choking the life out her to be close like this. She said nothing, not wanting to hurt him. Finally he pulled back and she could breathe easier. She smiled, happy too. She'd be much happier if there was less hugging in the future though. "I'll try to not let this make me go soft on you." She replied, her heart still beating fast. She was happy to be here, hugs and all.

 

[school]

[TwilightMoonDragon]

Circe

 

It had been a while since she had told Cyrus she was expecting. It was also a while since they had come in this cave. Thankfully, they made it a little more private than it originally was. It had been someone's idea to convert it into some sort of a stable like establishment. The different quarters of the assassins were separated by walls of planks. Each stall was filled with straw and sheets so that the assassins wouldn't be cold on the stone ground. And there were extra stalls, so the horses and mules could be stored with them.

 

Circe was sleeping in her stall, curled up about the straw and cloth. She had grown large over the months, and surprisingly, Cyrus had claimed the babe, which they had dubbed Kestrel, as his own. For that she thanked him. For if they found out where the baby came from, who know what would of happened?

 

She woke up, sweating. She felt icky, and she thought of taking a bath. But... She felt down low, and flinched when her hand came back wet. Oh, Gods, no...

 

At that moment, a huge blaze of pain ran up her abdomen, to which she replied with a loud scream. It reverberated off the stone walls of the cave, making her flinch away from the louder noise.

[Mousia]

Zero shrugged, not really paying attention. "Two people are warmer than one. My sister and I used to huddle in the cells because they didn't give us blankets. Winters were harsh for children. But it should be comfortable tonight, I suppose." He looked around the cave, eyes glazed over and only half open. The wind blew into the cave and ruffled his hair, but the boy hardly noticed. It was starting to get progressively darker as well. As the light faded, Zero realized how tired he was. He'd barely slept the night before and spent that entire day walking, running, or climbing. His muscles ached with strain and his mind ached with sorrow. Laying down, he put his pack down under her head as a pillow and yawned.

[Dusset]

((Commence eight month training-montage!

What? We don't have that?

Here's a paragraph instead.))

 

Cyrus had pushed Zero hard over the past eight or so months. He gave no forgiveness and no extra breaks or water for the cold. He'd taken him out in a storm, too. He was confident he was physically where he needed to be, and as such, psychological lessons increased in number. Strategy was taught, both in phalanx, in squads, and alone. The spartan man continued on his conquest to teach the boy his own worth, but he hadn't asked him what he thought of himself since the pasture. He would save this for last. Positive reinforcement and it's negative counterpart were used in full. Finally, he was taught a broad range of weaponry. From ranged to melee. Everything Cyrus had, including his shield, and even borrowing several weapons from other assassins. Zero might not necessarily be a master in every weapon, but he was made sure to know the basics, and on some common weapons like the sword or spear, the finer points. His training had been accelerated as Cyrus believed strongly that every assassin needed to know as much as they could for the upcoming conflicts.

He ended every day by coming back to Circe to speak and spend time with her and Sophia. Walking back to the cave, he heard a cry, and he started sprinting, worried it might be Circe. He nearly slipped as he rounded the entrance of the cavern, he was moving so fast. Rushing to Circe, he looked down to see water flowing. He smiled briefly before taking her hand in his.

Edited September 11, 2013 by Dusset

[Mousia]

Helena heard the scream loud in her ears and watched Circe struggle, but said nothing. She watched for a second with cold, analyzing eyes. Coming to the conclusion that she was not needed, she left, giving the assassins wide berth.

After leaving, the bright light shocked her eyes, but she only blinked to get them all adjusted. Scaling the rocky mountain cliffs, she found a trickling cold water source and knelt to it, washing her face. After she felt clean enough, the woman closed her eyes to pray out loud, asking Hestia and Artemis and Hera to protect Circe and her child during the birth and into its childhood and also asked all the gods to forgive them for their misdoings and help them in the future. Afterwards she spent a great deal of time thanking all the gods for everything they'd given the group and ended the prayer with her burning a roll to offer to the gods, for it was all she had.

Standing up, the Mentor looked up, hoping to see a glimmer of the gods. "I hope you all hear me, because we're just this close...," she muttered.

[TwilightMoonDragon]

[*plays The Final Countdown and the Eye of the Tiger*]

 

Circe

 

Circe ground her teeth as another wave of pain came over her. But when Cyrus came over, she smiled deeply at him.

 

---

 

After a while, Circe had a small baby in her arms. The boy's hair was such a dull brown that it was basically beige, and his bright green eyes contrasted the color of his skin. He had been crying for a while and now laid still, wriggling and whining in her grip.

 

Aetios had been trained in the art of medicine, little did she know. He helped her give birth, helped her keep on breathing, and helped her relax, which was important. "Oh, Cyrus..." she breathed, breath taken by the baby. "Isn't he just beautiful? Kestrel... He will be as silent and as deadly as the bird as he was named after."

 

The baby whined louder as if on cue. Circe grinned softly, shaking her head. "How the Gods play their games on us." she said. "They place their spells on us and show us their power with the gift of birth." she gazed up at Cyrus. "Would you like to hold him?" she held out the small raggedy bundle. "He won't break."

[Dusset]

((Exactly.))

 

Cyrus hadn't been through this before. He'd asked that Sophia be kept away until the child was born. But he was there the whole time. Never leaving her side. Their child was beautiful, his second adopted. He wished it was his own, biologically, but it didn't change the fact that this was his first son, and always would be. Circe asked if he's like to hold him, and he said, "I would love to." He took the babe in his arms and gazed down. "He looks a bit like me." He noted, first. Lucky, because no one would ask why it didn't look like the pale, blonde father. "Aries bless him." He said, poking his forehead lightly. "For he will be a warrior of the likes no man has seen. A God among men." Sophia was let close and she looked on in awe. Cyrus patted his lap, which for the most part was free. "He's so tiny." She said, sitting on her father's lap and gazing at her brother. "What's his name?"

"Kestrel."

Edited September 11, 2013 by Dusset

[Mousia]

(Guys... You do realize that green-eyed people and red-haired people are so low in number that they're basically endangered, right? It's like, every character is red-haired or green-eyed or both and... *sigh*)

 

Kal and Thais hung around near the mouth of the cave, shadows cast over their faces. It wasn't likely that they'd be seen. They were almost never around. The two lived for each other, any person of the creed came second to their need to be together. Sometimes they resented the creed for being so...close. It was as if the gods were taunting them.

Kal was also angry that Circe was so happy. She had no right to be happy. She was a wretch. Someone with no purpose but to fill space. She'd had no true pain yet. And Kal envied her happiness. She hated that Circe had someone to hand her baby to and smile with while she was alone. She'd birthed Thais alone. She'd raised him alone. Her husband had raped her from the getgo, never letting her get a good word in. The young assassin looked away and shook her head.

"Is that how I was born, Mama?" Kal nodded silently and took her son by the hand, leading him away from the others. She didn't want to be around their joy. It made the woman sick with rage and an agonizing pain that coursed through her heart. No one cared about someone who was strong, especially not a woman. Circe was weak-kneed and relied on people, not able to fight for herself. She fell into Cyrus' arms and cried out for his aid like the whelp she was.

The woman lead her son to a slight cliff and sat on the edge with him, just hugging him close and looking out at nothing.

Edited September 11, 2013 by Mousia

[TwilightMoonDragon]

[Oops.

I'll change that to grey eyed. Is that better?

Nah JK. I'll make him brown eyed.]

 

[Moose, are we going to push AetiosxHelena forward?]

[Dusset]

((In our defenses. Cullen and Ambra were first. Then had like... Thirty frikkin kids.

Maybe we all just secretly wanna be a ginger?

No, but really, I didn't notice the green-eyed thing, I think I read over it to quickly. Was more focused on the beige hair.))

Edited September 11, 2013 by Dusset

[RainDash]

[i know I want to be ginger...

A least Tessa's blonde and blue eyed next gen. One less character with red hair and green eyes.

Also, Any ideas on Calmes, Duss?]

 

 

[TwilightMoonDragon]

[Okay... Garrett has brown eyes...

.

I have three charries with blue eyes.

Can they be hazel blue? More brown than blue?]

[Dusset]

((I'll stick with looking German.

Well, blue eyes are always more common than green.

As far as Calmes go (still like Helypso), if I come up with something, I'll pm it over.))

[TwilightMoonDragon]

[Okay... now that we skipped for Circe's birthing... we need to do the spy mission.]

[Dusset]

A few days later, Cyrus was content with his life, but not with the brotherhood. He let Zero know he had the day off, he could spend it with Kaethe, whatever. Days without some kind of training were rare. He sought out Helena and tapped her shoulder. "I think it's time to speak, Mentor." He started, "We need to lunch an attack. We're strong, and have had time to rest and prosper. The Athenians either think we left all of Greece or were eradicated. Now is the time to strike. To kill the leaders and scatted the men, then drive them out. But no mistakes can be made. We can't be caught, or even seen."

 

Hermes stood on the edge of the cliff outside the cave. The front half of his feet were hanging off and he stood stock-still. He was silent and glass-eyed. His dreams were eating at him. They became more vivid every night, and sometimes he couldn't tell the difference between reality and a nightmare. The only thing keeping him anchored anymore was Calypso. He'd trained as hard as he could, and loved her with all his heart. He feared that without her, he may take an extra step. That he might throw himself off the edge and end his sleeping misery. But he didn't. He stood half-way over the edge. One foot in and one-foot out, questioning if he was asleep or not, as pinching didn't wake him up from it all anymore. He waited for either a friend to approach him or Hermes to push him over the side.

[RainDash]

Calypso, awake early due to her nightmares, had gone to pray to Dionysus to lift the burden of Hermes dreams, as well as pray to Hypnos for giving Hermes a real night's rest. Her own nightmares were terrifying, but she was used to them. She didn't want to see Hermes like this. As she exited to the cave, she saw Hermes, so close to the side that her heart leapt in fear. "Hermes?" She asked, her green eyes filled with worry. "What are you doing up so early?" She could see shadows reaching for him, their smoky fingers reaching in his head, making him see things that scared him so.

 

[school.]

[Dusset]

((Tomorrow is fair day.

DAY OFF!))

 

Hermes didn't whip around, very conscious of the fact that a simple mistake could end his life prematurely. He took a step back and turned around. "Morning Calypso." He said, with a smile, happy to know he was awake. He squinted in the morning light and scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry, I couldn't sleep." He said. He knew she knew. He'd never told her, but he knew she knew. "So I came out here to get some fresh air." He'd been standing like he'd been for three hours. "How'd you sleep? Well I hope." Of course, he was asking mostly to avoid questions to himself. He was fine. He was the great Hermes, singer of songs, steal-er of shiny things and writer of poems. Not someone to be taken be down by mere dreams.

Not supposed to be.

[Mousia]

"If you know exactly what you're doing, why even ask for my advice?" Helena snapped fiendishly. She stepped off the edge of the path she was on suddenly, sliding down the incline to a patch of flatish ground a few yards below. "What use am I in you perfect life? What use am I in your selfish agenda? What do you care now for the creed? Go forth, Cyrus! Go for you Circe and Sophie and Kestrel and leave us until you decide that your selfishness is a worthy thing to adjust. You are of no use to us now that you have decided that your brothers and sisters are of little importance to you." She pulled a frail bush from the cliffside and threw it, full of rage. "And don't you try to convince me otherwise. Words are little, actions are great. Just because you're high and mighty and have had Spartan training doesn't mean that you're eternally redeemed. You go and ****ing work for your goddamn fill, or that *** adopted son of yours gets no food," she spat with finality riddling her speech. "Go and don't come back until you can prove that you're worth my time."

 

(Complicating this a little. And I'm also in a bad mood today. Like, really mad. So that happened. All she needs is a fight back. Don't worry about it. )

[IceFyr1928]

[Aaaandd.... I'm back just in time to end this.]

 

Devon lounged in the throne, it was rather comfortable, despite the looks of it. However, this was I terrupted when a servant came in, notifying him of a certain spy's arrival. He ordered the man sent in immediately, and to the rest of his court he gave leave.

 

The tall, dark-skinned man was swift to walk in, his large cloak giving him the appearance of a spectre. A snappy salute soon followed, before the man began his report at a wave of Devon's hand.

 

The spy was quick to get to the point, one of the reasons he of all of the spies he had was hired, starting off with, "We have located the remaining assassins. They number around one hundred, though they appear to be capable of mustering militia forces from seemingly nowhere."

 

Devon nodded, preparing to dismiss him, when he noticed the man seemed rather shifty, uneasy. Like he had something else to say. "Anything else you want to tell me, Arcanus?"

 

[Oh yeah. That just happened.]

[Dusset]

((She has chosen the right dog to bite for that, Moose.))

 

Cyrus was caught very much off-guard by Helena's tirade. He followed her down the incline and slapped her in the face as hard as he could muster. "Don't you EVER speak about my son like that!" He shouted. "You think I'm so blind I don't know myself? I know every bit as much as you do, that I hold my immediate family above our Creed! But I've never once done anything to deserve this little tantrum you're having at me! I'm a master assassin and I deserve the respect for my achievements! I could give less of a that you're my Mentor, if you can't look at our poor situation with any semblance of sense, then you don't even deserve your brother who can! We're on the brink of extinction, Helena! We've had to retreat to the safety of our Gods just to survive! If we don't attack now it's over, and you've been as selfish as you call me! I might be, too! But at least I care about the well-being of those in my charge! No one is safe on the run, and I'm willing to compromise the safety of my family to fix that! I'd rather be selfish than ignorant any day!" He was red in the face huffing, shoulders rising and falling with every breath. How dare she accuse him of being selfish.