AC 2- Birds of a Feather Ch.1

The previous story to this fanfic is, The Hidden Truths The link can be found in the artist description.

Story Summary In an age of Renaissance, lies and betrayal lurk around every corner. Who can you trust? In search of the truth, following in the footsteps of her ancestor Fiorenza de Forsythe, Ealasaid, a female assassin seeks out Ezio Auditore in Venice to help restore her clan and to seek out the treasure of Eden.

If At First You Don't Succeed

By the graces of miraculous chance, Ealasaid had made it to Florence, Italy, with some money that had been lent from her father. She had no time to stay and heal, her clan compromised and her family in possible danger. She implored them to stay with neighboring relatives until the Fidelio clan conspiracy was cleared. Even though there was little information on this man named Ezio let alone his temperament on his targets, if he was anything like the assassin's before them, that was all she needed to know. Whether he followed the older creed or his own idealisms, it didn't matter. He was after Borgia, that being the key component. Even if he were to end up being the opposition; the enemy of one's enemy is a friend as they say, so there was little to worry about for Ealasaid. However, the one thing that she was in lack of was time, but there were small hints and clues along the way that helped speed up the process. Ealasaid had found that Borgia concealed recent dealings in Scotland. She didn't know of his intentions and what he had in stored for Scotland, but something told her it was more engrained than meets the eye; something beyond petty materialism, desires of the flesh, or simple tyranny.

Amatore kept describing something gin regards to a piece of Eden, a treasure that held unimaginable knowledge and power. The only Eden she knew of was the location described in the book of Genesis of the Bible in the beginning chapters for the man, Adam, and the woman, eve were created in the garden of Eden, but the book described the Eden as closed and guarded by a flaming sword and no one of which knows the location of or has ever seen it. The only thing that would logically make sense is this treasure merely being metaphorically described as a piece of Eden, a treasure and yet powerful in the eyes of men? Was this something so rare that it was worth a whole kingdom? It didn't make sense to her, not for as long she had been an assassin, studying the minds of men and what drove their motives for doing the things they do in politics, power, and control. Dare she say this so called treasure could be not of this world? Ludicrous, but these men were focused on it, and that was her main objective. There was no other objective aside from protecting her family and somehow restoring the broken Fidelio clan despite being exiled from them. She owed that much for everything she had done.

Florence

A bustling city of beauty, nature, corsets, and cod pieces. Harlots, money, and betrayal also resided here as well as in other cities it seemed in Italy. There were no such things in Scotland, at least not at these extremes. It was unfamiliar territory for Ealasaid as she contemplated how society has changed, and not for the better. However, the advancements in medicine and mechanisms were astounding especially by a man named Leonardo Da Vinci. She had heard of his exploits not only as a painter, but also as an inventor and that he too resided in Florence, but according to local merchants she was talking to, Leonardo had recently moved his shop to Venice. Nevertheless, Ezio was the prime target, but no one was giving any answers. She merely came up empty hand. However, the one lead had been received when a local merchant stated seeing Ezio Auditore many times in Leonardo's shop.

It could only then be speculated that Leonardo and Mr. Auditore were friends. This gave her an advantage because if she could not find Ezio, then maybe Leonardo could lead her to him. However, traveling far and wide with still freshly open wounds had taken its toll. Wanting to give her body a chance to rest from the recent ordeal she had escaped back in Scotland she sat quietly inside a dormant room a doctor had had her seated in. Her wounds were beyond simple scratches and cuts, requiring her to remove articles of clothing, but this in turn benefited her sights from being seen, just in case anyone had followed her this far from home. It was a chance she wasn't willing to take.

"My dear lady, I am baffled at the numerous cuts. How did you get these?" The doctor asked in curious concern as he came back into the room carrying several bandages and supplies to help her mend and on her way.

"It was an ugly fight to say the least," Ealasaid answered in blunt honestly.

"I think that goes without saying," the doctor bluntly agreed with understanding worry as he went about looking at her wounds. Although she had not received any injuries that were impaling of any kind, the cuts were almost deep enough to be considered a laceration, but the blood had stopped shortly after she had wrapped the wounds the first time. Amatore was quite fast with the dagger with close hand to hand combat and since he had trapped her in a room, it was just between him and Ealasaid. Mere second dodging did well enough on its own to evade Amatore's blade from infliction of death, but it was better than being stabbed multiple times let alone raped. There were at least 2 deep cuts along the assassin's right bicep, one long one against the left upper thigh, another which was sliced nicely against the right side, and then one that snuck upwards along the neck. Her clothes had some nicely stained blood spots to say the least, but it could have been much worse. The doctor merely sighed, finishing his examination and bandaging.

"I'm sorry, but I simply do not understand why a beautiful woman like yourself would have such scaring let alone be in a fight. A fight is a man's ugly business…"

"…just as much as it is for a woman. I can handle myself."

The doctor chuckled nervously in reply, "Mi scusi! I did not mean to offend."

Ealasaid sighed. It wasn't the first time she got even in the slightest, a sexist reaction and or judgment. Even though female Assassin's were more common in her culture, it was still not always welcomed especially in a man's world. It was this way of thinking that made it ever more difficult for Ealasaid to hold back her blade when provoked or irritated. It was this same reason that she was not easily approached by men, giving off a tight and or defensive vibe.

"It's quite alright. Capisco," she stated with an almost frustrated tone.

"If you don't mind me asking, I couldn't help but notice the robes you were wearing when you took off your cloak."

"Yes? What of them?" She replied in irritation, getting annoyed by his constant questions.

"I have seen similar robes like that before…" and as if on instant cue "…what?! Where?!"

Finally getting a more pleasant reaction from the woman the doctor smiled and answered gladly, "A man that used to come to me for treatment wore similar styled robes. Only his were mainly white with red striping and a strange symbolized belt."

"Did you by chance know his name?"

Sighing a little, trying to remember, "Solo un po. Let's see…what was it? Anzio…Fazio…um…"

"…does Ezio ring a bell?" she suggested in hopeful interruption and as if in almost utter surprise, "Ah yes! That's the name! Ah, I am such idioto, how could I forget such a man?"

"Ezio Auditore da Firenze."

"Ah, so you know him."

Shaking her head, "No, at least not personally. I'm looking for him though. Do you know where he is? It is very important that I see him."

"I am sorry signora. Non lo so." The doctor sighed again, trying his best to be of help to the pretty lady.

"Very well then. Lei è molto gentile, grazie molto."

"Prego! Anything for a beautiful woman."

Feeling a bit more at ease with the politeness of the doctor, she blushed at his comment as she began to place her robes back on, but the minute she got off the examining table was when a dull pain burst from her bruised ribs.

She may have missed the stabbing jabs of Amatore's knife, but he managed to get a few punches into the stomach, which unfortunately caught contact with a few lower ribs. They weren't broken, but they were bruised, possibly fractured. There was no way to tell without a more proper examination, but having nearly been raped she was not in the mood to be touched further.

"The wrappings and balm should help to heal the bruising, but I implore you to stay and heal for a day or two so I can keep an eye on you. Moving around like that so much for so long could make your condition much worse."

"I can't. Devo andare."

"Very well then. Buona fortuna!"

"Grazie molto. However, I must ask, how do you get to the entrance of the city? I've forgotten."

"Vada dritto! e poi giri a destra. Can't miss it."

"A dopo and thank you again for all your help. It should jump start my search."

Shrouding herself in a black cloak to conceal not only the strangely defined outfit, but also her temperament, she ventured out once again to the front of the city for transportation to Venice. Escorted to a large boat, her journey began, taking a day's time to get there, but it wasn't long before Ealasaid found herself in the watering city of moats and boats. Approaching the city from the outside, it was much more beautiful than she could ever imagine, and unfortunately a lot larger than what it looked like on a map. Of course anything on a map was never true to scale, but she just never imagined a city filled with watery roads would be so vastly large. She had only been to Venice once as a little girl so it brought about a small sense of familiarity.

The weather was beautiful and the sun shining high in the sky, making the water around the city sparkle like diamonds; nothing more perfect than to make an assassin in black clothing stick out like a fly in a glass of milk. Assuming Ezio was an assassin of daylight and not like the ones in her clan that stalked their prey in shadow, she kept her cloak closed over her robes considering the fact that if Ezio was accompanying Leonardo and Leonardo resided in this city, her robes might be recognized as an assassin. And the last thing that was needed was to be mistaken for Ezio. Better to be safe than sorry.

Walking down the ramp from the docked ship one couldn't help but notice the architecture of the city was delicately designed with the common sighting of a fleur de lis. It was a symbol that originated from France and the meaning of the name was literally "flower lily". The dock was surrounded by wooden pedestals that stuck out of the water, accompanied by very elongated boats that were steered with an extremely long stick; absolutely stunning. It was like walking into a dream and it reminded Ealasaid of the beauty of the forests of Scotland, giving the same euphoria. However, as beautiful as the city was, she couldn't let her distract from the focused objective. A nearby meat seller seemed convenient enough as she approached the man, asking him where to find the whereabouts of Leonardo Da Vinci. However, to her dismay he did not recognize the name. She sighed and walked around until some answers could be given. However, it didn't seem to matter who was asked, no one could tell where Leonardo was let alone if they knew that man.

That could mean only one thing; Leonardo must have recently arrived here…or…he hadn't been here long enough for the residence to know him. If Leonardo could not be a lead then maybe Ezio's physical description, but the only thing she could go off of was her own outfit, which was also of no use. She didn't want to blatantly point out she was an assassin looking for an assassin. It was unwanted attention she did not want to risk, so she was stuck looking for him in such a vast city after a man who was presumably whom a master of concealing his presence. She never had to hunt down her own kind before let alone in broad daylight, but it wasn't long before luck had struck. Up high in a rather ridiculous location was a noticeable wanted poster. To manipulate social discretion, Ealasaid used a nearby ladder to get to the poster as she I climbed up and took it down, holding it in her hands as she studied the warmly dried parchment that was still fresh of the sunlight's heat.

This was it; this was the man she was looking for. Ezio Auditore. It was merely a head shot, but it was enough to give her an idea of what she was looking for. Folding the paper up nicely, she placed it inside her pocket to hopefully not only decrease Ezio's notoriety, but to use it as identification to find Ezio. However, this proved to be undesirable as the guards apparently didn't appreciate her enthusiasm of helping a fellow assassin as one cried out, pointing at her as other guards gathered.

"Is there a problem officer?" She asked with casual bluffing ignorance. She might have been physically a woman, but incognito she looked more like a man with the concealing of her hair tied back and breasts wrapped down for better use of momentum. Neither was she a lightweight considering the amount of training that had been done, which in turn gave her a toned physical structure. It had to be that way in order to be agile, swift, and possess maneuverability of an assassin. So it was common she was mistaken for a man, especially considering Ealasaid was the first woman, at least in the Fidelio clan, to ever become a female assassin. It was because of these things the guards assumed she was a man, but it still made them suspicious of the cloak covering her body and even more suspicious of the fact that she had taken down a wanted poster.

"What are you doing up there?! You are not authorized to remove those posters!"

Using witty logical reasoning, "But sir, these buildings are to become artifacts years from now. It is my job to make sure they are not littered with random parchments to help display their beauty. The posters can be placed on the street side."

A few of the guards felt the man's reasoning was sensible enough, but one of the guards was unconvinced as he came out of the group and demanded, "Drape back your cloak! I want to see what you are wearing boy!"

Ealasaid bit her lip as she nervously draped back her cloak, revealing her robes, hoping the guards wouldn't make the distinction in the design, but unfortunately for her he did.

"Assassino! Get him!" He cried out.

"Merda!" Ealasaid swore as she bolted off the rooftop and onto the street, wanting to use the advantage of shadow from the buildings since being on the rooftops would make her to obvious to spot out.

It hurt to run, considering her ribs were bruised, but adrenaline spoke otherwise. The guards were quick to follow and apparently were just as quick to catch up. Before the guard had a chance to grab onto Ealasaid's cloak, she had already quickly tied it off and let it fly into the guard's face as he fell to the ground. That gave ample chance to run down an alley way that was full of merchants and people and maybe blend into the crowd. Of course the guards kept crying assassin which only startled the crowd as people screamed and backed away, taking her own form of cover. The bruising was taking a toll on her body as her breathing became stiffer and luck would have it that at the end of the tunnel piled another group of guards. Trapped, she looked above to find a way out maybe by climbing, but the way was blocked by wooden gating that seemed to loom over like a canopy. There was no way out and with so many guards, it would be foolish to fight, risking more injury and possibly death. Having no other option, she was going to try to do what no assassin has ever done, and that was to convince the guards that she wasn't an assassin.

"It's too late for you now, there is no escape," the guard insisted with assurance that he had caught his prey.

"Put your hands where I can see them." Doing as told as she lifted her hands and kept them floating halfway in midair, "Look, I think there's been a misunderstanding here."

"Keep quiet! Let us see who this assassin is," the guard roughly throwing back her hood as he was shocked to see what he had unveiled.

"Cos'è questa cosa? A woman?!"

Ealasaid just merely smiled as she repeated in a more feminine tone of voice, "As I said before gentlemen, I believe this is a simple misunderstanding. I am no assassin."

"Then why did you rip down that poster and run away?!"

Being versed in the way of the tongue, this was her time to shine once more, being a master of persuasion; she felt she could talk herself out of any situation, even this.

"As I told you before, I find it atrocious that beautiful architecture is littered with simple wanted posters. They should be placed more accordingly where the public eye can see them and not on some inconspicuous spot. Besides, I think that is irrelevant to the situation signor. That man on the poster is the one you are searching for is it not?"

Being distracted by the redirected question the guard answered simply, "Si."

"And I am clearly not that man, correct?" Finding her questions to be of sense he continued to answer,"Si."

"Then what is exactly the problem?" Despite the logical reasoning in her questions, the guard didn't let down. "You ran away, which means you are hiding something."

He poked out his spearing weapon, inches away from Ealasaid's stomach, a form of intimidation she presumed. He was smarter than he looked. This was going to be a little tougher to get out of than originally thought. Luckily the wanted poster only had a headshot, which completely concealed the rest of Ezio's outfit so unless the guard had actually seen Ezio before in person, she carefully assumed that the guard could not distinguish the similarity in outfits or the guard would have mentioned something by now. Feeling the guard needed repeated assurance, she pulled out the poster she had taken and held it up, unfolded, beside her head.

"This is the man you are looking for. This is not me. I am not an assassin, but he is. You may feel I am hiding something, but the matter of fact is gentlemen is that we are all hiding something. We all have our secrets, so your reasons for chasing me is not good enough reason let alone is it authorized enough to bring me in for questioning. You yelled at me and claimed I am an assassin when I am clearly not, so I naturally panicked when you began to chase me. And it is not gentlemanly to yell at a lady now is it?"

The guard opened his mouth to retort, but he paused in response. That was the response she was looking for as she sighed with relief. It meant her words had finally seeped through like a snake's venom into the blood.

"You……do make a point."

"Indeed. Now I am sorry for the trouble I have caused you…"

"…no no, it's okay. It was my mistake, but next time don't run away, okay?!"

"Capisco," she replied as she bowed her head slightly and placed her hood back over her scalp.

"By the way, I noticed your accent is different and yet you understand Italiano. May I ask where you are from?"

"Scotland. I am visiting..." searching for the words to give "…family. Imparo I'italiano da un mese. L'italia è un paese meraviglioso."

The guard smiled as she explained having studied the language for one month and found the country to be beautiful. The guard was rather surprised with her answer let alone her speaking well in the Italian tongue. The casual started conversation between them was helping to further her deception to the guard of her true intentions and indenty.

"Scotland? Well that is rather far away, but you're Italiano is very good. Needs a little work on pronunciation, but you'll get around just fine. Well, I must return to my post. I hope your stay is a bit more welcomed."

"Grazie molto."

"Prego."

The guards finally left as the citizens in the area calmed down. And it was then one remaining guard walked up to return her black cloak.

"Eccolo, my lady."

"Grazie molto. Since we are on the topic of assassins, do you know the places where this man is most commonly sighted?"

"Why do you ask? Do you know the man?"

In attempts to find the location of Ezio, yet again it had created suspicion as the guard asked her mistrusting of her intentions. Apparently Ezio was of bigger trouble then she had hoped. It was making it nearly impossible to keep quiet of such matters without alarm.

"Well I want to stay clear of him considering its my first time to this city. I mean who knows what type of man he is. Not even the heralds can tell me his intentions since they clearly are easily bought over by bribery. You can't trust them, and I want to ensure my safety by avoiding areas he's most commonly seen in."

Avoiding the guards suspicion yet again, he answered "Ah, good point signora. Let's see. Well, he's been in the west side of the city in the Mercato Vecchio district. He's also been spotted in the north-west district of San Lorenzo, the east district of La Rosa colta, Ospedale Degli Innocenti, and Santa Croce."

"I see….well at least that knocks out the south and north district. And what district are we in now?"

"The Mercato Vecchio district."

"Grazie. I appreciate all the help. Oh before I leave I have one more question…"

"…si, signora?" She was going to ask him if he knew of or where to find Leonardo Da Vinci, but she had a feeling that maybe asking too many questions would lead to unnecessary dealings.

"Um, never mind actually. Thanks again."