Assassin's Creed Drabbles

↳ i found you

the death of your beloved brings you closer to a long lost friend. 

ALEXIOS STANDS ON the docks of Sami, bottom lip quivering as he watches a ship sail with the rising sun. His best friend is aboard the ship, leaving Kephallonia for a new life elsewhere. Ikaros perches on his shoulder –unable to take to the skies given the splint on his left-wing– and Markos clasps onto his other.

He remembers the day you told him the news. It was the same day a group of older boys had thrown stones at Ikaros and broke his wing. "What do you mean? You can't leave!" He shouts, causing you to jump while tying the strip of linen around the eagle's lame wing. You hope you've learned well enough from the village healer to ensure Alexios's companion will fly again.

"I don't want to," you tell him. Kephallonia is the only home you've known. Others see the island as a curse or a prison it is yours and Alexios's kingdom and one day you will outgrow it. "But mater and pater-" Alexios grips onto your shoulders, cutting you off. "You can stay with me! Ikaros and I will be your family."

You shake your head. Kephallonia does not hold a future for you, nor does it hold one for your friend. "We'll see each other again one day," you tell him.

"I'll find you," he vows, and you wrap your arms around him. When the ship is no longer visible on the horizon, Markos guides him from the docks and gives him several jobs to take his mind of you.

DUTIES HAVE KEPT you apart for too long. He has been at war with Athens and the few times he has returned to Sparta, you have been away in Arkadia –tending to your widowed mother. But this time it seems as though fate will allow you to be reunited for a short while in Lakonia. He exits the throne room and breathes in the spring air, the scent of wildflowers heavy on the cool breeze. "Brasidas!" You cry, spotting him from the agora. He smiles as you bound toward him and into his arms.

"My love," he breathes into the crown of your head, but despair taints the endearment.

Frowning, you step back to look up at him, hands lingering on his arms. "What is it?" You ask even though you have a premonition about what has soured your reunion.

Brasidas glances toward the throne room and considers the orders Eurypontid king had given him. Reports say Athens is gathering reinforcements and threaten the people of Makedonia. "I must sail for Amphipolis," he admits, eyes downcast. He has seen enough bloodshed for two lifetimes, but when Sparta calls –he must answer.

You touch his cheek, fingers brushing over the scar below his eye. You can still remember the day he came limping back from the docks after winning a laurel in Methoni, using his spear as a crutch –face a bloody mess. "But you've only just returned to me."

He leans forward, pressing his lips to your forehead. He dares not show more affection than that in public –not until you are finally wedded, at least. "And my heart will ache until I can hold you in my arms again," he tells you. "Walk with me?" Brasidas asks, extending his arm for you to take. From the agora, he leads you past the statue of Leonidas toward a small stream and patch of poppies.

Pylos feels like a lifetime ago, but the wound on his leg still is not fully healed. The injury made him realize he'd been fighting with too much hubris and not honor as of late. It also causes him to contemplate life and death and what he would be leaving behind. He cannot bear the thought of you withering away in sadness and heartbreak because of him. "Should something befall me-" Brasidas begins, but you are quick to place your finger against his lips, gently hushing him.

"Don't speak like that," you breathe.

A smile pulls at his lips. He grips onto your wrist, pulls your hand closer to his mouth and presses a lingering kiss against the center of your palm. Brasidas knows you do not wish to speak of hypotheticals in which he does not return, but it must be said. His gut tells him Amphipolis will be a battleground like no other. "If the Keres take me to meet Hades I would ask that you do not dwell on the past." The Spartan general takes your face into his rough hands and runs his thumbs across your cheeks, catching the tears that betray you.