Assassin's Creed 2 Fanfic (The Leo in this is NOT Leonardo da Vinci, but a Medici)
Ezio Auditore de Firenze was trying to get
through the throng at the piazza as fast as he could without making himself
noticed. He couldn’t believe that so many had come to watch his father and
brothers die. He, too, was wanted to the noose, but as of yet, the Borgia
hadn’t been able to find him. His heart was pounding furiously, he didn’t want
them to die, and this was his own, vain effort to save them. Just as he broke
the front row of spectators, many things happened at the same time. The hatches
under his male family members opened at the same time as parts of the crowd
started to fight one another and the guards, and instead of hanging from
nooses, Ezios father, Giovanni, older brother, Federico, and younger brother,
Petruccio, lay on the ground. Three guards were also on the ground, all with knives
in their chests. Ezio was too astonished and too much in a hurry to wonder what
was happening. He rushed to his father’s side and helped him loose.
“Ezio”, gasped Giovanni Auditore. “Grab
Petruccio. He needs your protection.”
“But”, started Ezio.
“Affretatti”, called out Giovanni. “He
is the only one who cannot defend himself.”
Ezio
dived on his little brother. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Federico
getting to his feet. While he freed Petruccio from his restraints he said
quietly:
“Are you ok, Petruccio? Were you hurt?”
Petruccio
only shrugged. The twelve-year-old boy was resilient despite his sickness.
“Andiamo”, said Ezio, pulling Petruccio
to his feet. “Let’s go”, he added a little louder, hoping his father and older
brother would hear.
Giovanni
urged his boys to follow him. They made it out of the piazza, but then Giovanni
seemed a little hesitant. He didn’t know where to go next. But at that moment,
a young man landed before them on soft feet. He must have jumped of a rooftop.
He was wearing a long white cloak with a hood, shading his face. He nodded to
Giovanni, who nodded back. That the young man turned his face towards Ezio.
Ezio could feel the stare burn him, though he couldn’t see his face.
Intuitively he knew who was under that hood.
The
hooded figure turned around and started to run. The Auditore boys followed him.
He wasn’t running all that fast, to make sure Petruccio could follow. But after
a few blocks, he suddenly sprang up some crates that was leaning against a
wall, grabbed the edge of the roof and swung up. Ezio stopped dead.
“What’s the matter, Ezio”, asked his
father impatiently. “You know how this game works, you can make that jump.”
“I can”, said Ezio. “But Petruccio
can’t.”
Giovanni
Auditore felt all color drain from his face. He couldn’t just go on, leaving
his boy behind. Borgia would just send Petruccio right back to the noose.
“I’ll carry him”, he said.
“No”, Ezio shook his head. “You’re
injured. I’ll carry him.”
“Well, someone has to before our friend
disappear”, said Federico urgently.
Ezio
grabbed Petruccio and hauled him up onto his back.
“Hold on to me”, he said.
Petruccio
grabbed Ezio around the neck in a tight hug. Ezio followed Federico who was
already on the roof. Giovanni came last.
They
followed their helper over the Florentine rooftops. None of them were sure of
where he was taking them, but for now, the only thing that mattered was that
they were getting as far away from the Borgia treason as possible.
When
they came to the edge of town, their helper leaped of the rooftop without
hesitation. Giovanni stopped, his sons beside him, a bit away from the rooftop.
“Time to get down, I think”, he said.
Ezio
let Petruccio down and walked up to the edge of the three-story building. Below
him stood their helper between a huge haystack and a two-horse carriage. By the
carriage stood his mother.
“Papa”, said Ezio. “It’s mother.”
“Of course”, said Giovanni. “Did you
think I would leave her in Firenze?”
Ezio
looked confused.
“So”, he said after a moment. “How are
we getting down from here?”
Giovanni
walked up to the edge of the roof and looked down.
“We jump”, he said.
“Jump”, cried out Federico. “Pazzo!”
“Have faith, my son”, said Giovanni
gently. Then he waved Petruccio over. “Don’t be scared”, he said. “And don’t
hesitate. You will be fine.”
Then
Giovanni Auditore turned around and leaped of the roof, right down in the bale
of hay. The hooded man came up to him and grabbed his arm to help him up. When
they were clear of the hay, Giovanni called for Petruccio and waved at him.
Petruccio jumped without hesitation, just as his father had told him to. When
he did, Federico said:
“Oldest or youngest first?”
“After you”, said Ezio, sweeping his arm
at the edge of the roof. “I always thought you were the crazy one.”
Federico
jumped. Giovanni helped him up. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, Ezio jumped,
too. The hooded man grabbed his arm and pulled him up. Ezio fell towards him,
unsettled by the impact of falling three stories. Besides, he couldn’t be
wrong. And he wasn’t. The hooded man let Ezio fall into his arms. Their lips
met. So soft was the kiss, Ezio wondered for a moment if it was a kiss at all.
But then he grabbed the other around the waist and kissed him deep and hard.
The adrenaline and excitement drained away and all that was left was weariness
and longing.
“Leo”, he whispered.
Issä and Faye (This is..... not really Dragon Age..... yet....)
”If we had never met, where would you be
right now?”
Issä
looked up. Faye looked really odd, he was clearly thinking about something.
“I don’t know”, he said quietly. “On
some backwater farm, I guess. Or the Mage Academy.”
Faye
frowned.
“Not so loud, we’re in public.”
Issä
looked around. They were out on the porch of an inn. They had a stunning view
of the river below and the mountain in the background, and not a single person
in view.
“Let them hear”, he said. “There are
other secrets in my heart I promise to be more careful with.”
Faye
straightened and walked over to Issä. As he walked past Issä he caressed his
cheek. Issä closed his eyes for a moment, looking weary. Faye sat down opposite
to Issä.
“I would hate to lose you to the
Academy, as well as the Gallows”, he said. “So please be careful with what
you’re saying.”
Issä
smiled and looked down in his book.
“Says the man who just showed tenderness
to his lover in a country where such love grants you death.”
“But you do miss me, don’t you?”
“Very much.”
Faye
nudged Issä’s leg with his foot. He tried to make Issä look up again, but as
all Issä did was blush, he said instead:
“What are you reading, anyway?”
“The Book of Revelations”, Issä jested.
Faye
laughed.
“Really”, he asked.
“No. It’s a journal of our travels. I’m
looking back.”
“Why?”
“To see ahead, of course.”
Faye
shook his head.
“You make no sense”, he sighed. “I’m so
sick of this.”
Issä
finally looked up.
“Of me”, he asked trembling.
Faye
really wanted to lean forward and kiss Issä, but didn’t dare.
“No, silly”, he said tenderly. “Of this
place, these laws, these people. I want to go somewhere where people don’t care
if I love you, or you cast a spell or two every now and then.”
He
looked out over the vista, the mountains in the distance.
“Maybe”, he said slowly. “We can find
some respite over there…”
“Maybe”, said Issä. “Or maybe all we
find if we go that way is snow and ice and early death.”
“You always sound so fatalistic”, said
Faye with a laugh. “Couldn’t you relax a little? But then, I know why you can’t
relax. We really need to get back on the road.”
Issä
nodded.
“We really do”, he said.
With
a sigh, Faye rose again.
Golden Compass Fanfiction (Yeah.... I always manage to to things like this...... It's about Asriel, though.)
Stelmaria stretched and swished her
long, white tail. She looked around. Parties like these were so boring; she
quietly wished that they would leave. So why didn’t they? If she wanted it, it
must mean her human wanted it, too. Daemons have, of course, feelings and
thoughts of their own, but this was such an intense feeling of boredom, it had
to come from her human. Asriel Belaqua looked almost as bored as she felt. Stelmaria
looked around once more. Her eyes locked with another daemon. It was a cat. A
quite common housecat, not a stately snow leopard as herself. The cat, Stelmaria
could sense, was a male, which meant it belonged to a young woman. It also
seemed very young, maybe it hadn’t settled yet. But no, this party was for college
students, no kids were allowed here. Stelmaria swished her tail in bemused puzzlement.
The black and gray cat stared back at her. Then suddenly, it took off. It was
quite a bit away from its human. Stelmaria followed it with her gaze. The cat
jumped up on its human. In mid-jump it changed form to a squirrel. So it really
was so young. But that was not Stelmaria’ biggest surprise. Her biggest
surprise was that the daemon had jumped up on a man. How was that? A man had a
male daemon? Quite unprecedented. Next thing she realized was that as she had
been studying the cat/squirrel, Asriel had been studying the man. What Lord
Asriel Belaqua of Oxford shire saw was a young man, a year or so younger than
himself, with dark blonde hair and grayish eyes, pale, narrow youthful face
with a gentle smile and dressed in an impeccable leisure suit that suited him
very well. He was handsome, and Lord Asriel was quite taken. But the handsome
youth with the curious daemon was taking his leave. Asriel felt the desire to
follow him and chat him up, but resisted. Another time another day would be
better.
When
Asriel left the party and came out into the light, sharp autumn air, Stelmaria
said:
“That boy was quite handsome, yes?”
“Mmm”, muttered Asriel, starting to walk
homewards. “I wouldn’t mind testing his wits.”
Asriel
measured potential love affairs by his interests’ intelligence, wisdom and
cleverness. He wanted clever partners. To his despair, he had yet to find
someone that could keep up with him.
“Did you see his daemon”, asked Stelmaria.
“No.”
“Well then, I should tell you to be
careful when pursuing this boy.”
Asriel
looked down at his daemon.
“Why do you keep calling a man in his
twenties a boy”, he demanded.
Stelmaria
hesitated.
“Well, I think there might be something
wrong with him”, she said.
“How so?”
“I for one have never heard about the
human and the daemon to be of the same sex”, she said.
“Nor have I”, muttered Asriel.
“And he changed. Adult’s daemons don’t
change.”
“Hmm”, muttered Asriel.
He took his keys
from his pocket and unlocked the front door. They walked up the stairs.
Dragon Age 2 Fanfiction (What is left of it..... There was this whole thing with the Fade and Justice and getting back to Ferelden and Anders willingly going back to the Circle.... I hope I find it on that hard drive later....)
Gabriel Hawke stood gazing out over the
White City. Its name was long ago forgotten, but he had learned that it was
Fearuns equivalent to Arlathan, the elven city in Thedas that had been ruined
long ago. While nothing other than legends survived of Arlathan, this city was
alive. Gray Wardens had their base here. Gabriel’s lover Anders had met wardens
in Baldur’s Gate, and they had told him that he absolutely needed to come here.
Anders was a gray warden, and he still had the taint. In Thedas, the knowledge
that the taint could be removed had been lost. But here in Fearun they
remembered. Anders lifespan would increase drastically, from about ten years
from initiation, fifteen if he was lucky, to a full human lifetime. If the grey
wardens or their associates could do anything about the spirit possession as
well, Gabriel could die a happy man.
Gabriel
shivered and swayed slightly when he thought this. He didn’t want to die, but
he knew he was dying. Every hour in Fearun was shortening his life, he could
feel it. He didn’t understand why. He also knew he was worse off than he let
on. The Gray Wardens had been here an hour ago, giving him clothes. They were
pearly white, a sure sign they knew of his illness. Maybe they were enchanted
or poisoned, for since he had put them on he had been getting worse rapidly. Or
maybe he was just giving in.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?”
Gabriel
turned around. The Warden-Commander Haldir had walked up on him without Gabriel
noticing.
“Being sick, but caring so much for the
one you love that the last thing you want to do is to admit your own physical
weakness. Hoping that once your body gives in, it’s too late anyway, and you
die before he finds you. Selfish notion, I know. Because we don’t want to deal
with their pain, thinking that it might be lesser if we are just gone. So they
can grieve and move on. Not forcing them to stay and care for us for days,
weeks, maybe months or years. Over and done, as to minimize the pain. Even if
we know they don’t see it this way.”
Gabriel
felt the words hitting his heart. How could Haldir know how he was feeling so
well?
“We are the same, you and I”, said the
dalish elf. “I’ve tried to hide so many times. But Duncan is no fool. He can
always tell, and he always reminds me that for him, nothing is more important
than my wellbeing, sometimes he even forces me to tell him the truth about it.
Telling how I feel is hard, has always been hard, but I’m getting better at it.
Tell me, Gabriel, is Anders a fool?”
Gabriel
shook his head slowly.
“No”, he said. “Not a fool. Just
preoccupied.”
Haldir
lifted one slender hand and caressed Gabriel’s neck with two long fingers. The
bruise was so deep purple it could have been black.
“Did he do this to you”, asked Haldir.
“No”, said Gabriel decisively.
“Then who?”
“Justice.”
“I see.”
There
was silence between them for a moment. Gabriel tried to find his courage. He
wanted to ask Haldir about his past, the stories he had heard were few and with
no real detail.
“Tell me when you fell in love with
Duncan”, he said quietly. “It must have felt strange, falling in love with a
man.”
Before
Haldir could answer, Gabriel staggered. He would have fallen if Haldir hadn’t
been there.
“I can tell you”, said Haldir gently.
“But I think we’ll talk inside. You need to rest.”
“Yes”, muttered Gabriel. “I think I need
to lie down for a moment.”
Haldir
helped Gabriel back into the room he and his Gray Wardens had let Gabriel and
Anders have. He felt deeply worried about Gabriel. Once Gabriel lay on the bed,
Haldir took a blanket and laid it over Gabriel’s legs, and then he sat down on
one of the chairs next to him.
“Didn’t it feel strange for you to fall
in love with a man”, asked Haldir.
“I don’t know. No. I was so exhausted
when I realized I’d fallen in love with Anders. It was just another thing that
had happened that month. I never really reflected on it, and then it was just too
late.”
“I see”, said Haldir amused. “I think I
fell in love with Duncan the first time I saw him. I’m not sure if he was my
first love, but then again, I will never know, so I choose not to think about
it. Was Anders your first love?”
“Yes. I had never thought I could love.
It wasn’t really expected of me or even allowed, so to speak.”
“Apostates are free, are they not? Free
even to love?”
“With stolen, uncertain freedom. Freedom
that doesn’t last.”
“Yours did. And his. And your fathers.”
Gabriel
didn’t answer. He knew that he had been naïve to think I couldn’t love just
because the Chantry didn’t allow it.
“Tell me how you met Duncan”, he
whispered.
Haldir
laughed.
“Now, that is quite the story”, he said.
“Are you sure you’re up for it?”
Gabriel
nodded. Hearing a voice talking right now, any voice, was soothing.
“I was out hunting with a friend”, Haldir
said slowly. “Tamlen and I happened to run into some Shems.”
“Some what?”
“Dalish for humans. Shemlen is the more
respectful way to put it. It means strangers.”
“I see. So, one of them was Duncan?”
“No”, said Haldir shaking his head.
“They were from Lothering, I think. They said they had found a cave, with ruins
inside. Tamlen wanted to kill them for trespassing so close to our camp, but I
thought they’d better live. I’m still not sure that was the right decision.”
“Your friend listened to you, then? Let
them live?”
“Tamlen and I were both aware of status
and rank. I outranked him. My father was one of the Elders.”
“I see. Go on.”
Haldir
ran his hand through his long, golden hair.
“Well, we went to the cave, the Shems
told us where it was, and investigated, of course. And they were right. There
were ruins there that looked as though they were made by humans, but the
artifacts were all from Arlathan, or at least so we thought. We were just boys,
I was only nineteen and Tamlen was 20. We didn’t know much about our history.
In one of the rooms, we came across a mirror. It was intact and we could see
our own reflections in it. But there was something wrong with it. I could feel
it instinctively. I told Tamlen we should leave, but he wouldn’t listen. When
he touched the mirror something happened. I’m not sure what. But when I woke
up, only for a brief moment, Duncan was carrying me in his arms. Maybe it was
gratitude that overwhelmed me, but I have been in love with him ever since. He
carried me back to the camp, and three days later, when I woke up again, he
told me he had found me in the woods; he had never seen either the ruins or the
cave they were in. And he hadn’t seen Tamlen. After I told my keeper about the
ruins, she sent hunters to look for Tamlen, and Duncan went with them. I wanted
to follow, but I was hurt and sick. They came back without Tamlen, and keeper
Marethari held a ceremony for him. Not until after that, they realized I had taken
ill the same way as when you get infected by darkspawn. Duncan offered to take
me with him and make me a gray warden. We’ve never parted ways since then.”
Gabriel
smiled. It was a sad and wonderful tale.
“Now it’s your turn”, said Haldir. “Tell
me about when you met Anders. You said it was exhausting?”
Gabriel’s
smile disappeared. He looked more tired than ever.
“My brothers and I had been working as
smugglers and mercenaries for over four years”, he said. “But we were looking
for other work. So a dwarf approached us about an expedition to the Deep Roads.
Instead of just being mere muscle, he offered us to buy a share. If we succeeded
we’d be repaid a hundredfold. Anders was taking part. I fell in love with him
while in the Deep Roads, but I didn’t know that he loved me till afterwards.
When we came back from there, I and my oldest brother weren’t really seeing eye
to eye about some things, I was angry, ran out, ran into a gang, they tried to
rob me, I put up a fight. Then some city guards and some Templars decided to
interfere, so I slipped away, wounded. I went to see Anders in his clinic, and
he took care of me. In more ways than
just healing my wounds. I had never been so happy.”
Don't tell me all the wrong facts in these.... you know me.... I don't write to be right..... I write for fun...
