Assassin's Creed II: Dream of Venice

Chapter 10: Stranger

"I am fine, Gavino! The last thing I would want right now is to be shut away in my room. I came to meet with Ezio, have you seen him?" You asked, but at the mention of Ezio's name, his eyes darkened and his face fell into a scowl.

"I do not trust that man. You should not be with him." His bluntness shocked you. You knew that Gavino trusted few people, though to voice his distrust in such a way was unlike him.

"Gavino, I am sure that Ezio is not a danger to me." You said awkwardly, unsure of how to approach this situation.

"You are naïve, [Name]. It has already cost you a cut to the throat and an arrow to the shoulder, this time it may cost you more." You stared at him, eyes wide. Was he suggesting that Ezio would get you killed? He let out an audible sigh and shook his head. "He was here a while ago with some woman. I do not know why or what they were doing."

You were about to question further when a hand touched you good shoulder. Looking over you saw that the hand belonged to Ezio.

"Ah, Ezio!" You said, giving him a smile. He returned the smile from under his hood. You were simply grateful for the distraction for this difficult conversation with Gavino.

"I did not mean to interrupt." He said politely, glancing between you and Gavino, whose gaze had somehow darkened even further.

"Oh it is no worry. We were done talking anyway. Arrivederci, Gavino." You said, to which Ezio nodded. You moved your left hand in a signal for Ezio to follow, and began to walk past Gavino's stall.

"What was that about?" Ezio asked curiously, however as you were about to answer, you heard Gavino yell.

"Guards! Guards! That man is a thief! Guards!" You heard him yell, and turned to see who he was referring to. However, to your surprise, he was pointing at Ezio.

"Gavino, what are you-..." You started to ask, eyes wide, but he quickly cut you off.

"Guards! Guards! Thief! Thief!" He yelled, and you saw guards come running around the corner. You quickly looked over at Ezio, who seemed less than amused.

"I will run and hide. I will see you in a moment." He grumbled, as he watched the guards run towards him.

"Be careful!" You called after him as he turned away from them and ran. Now angry, you turned on Gavino. It almost felt like he was a completely different person from the man you had known. "Why would you do that? He did not take anything from your stall!" You cried.

"It is for your own good." He said with no remorse in his voice, and you shook your head at him.

"You do not decide what is good for me or not!" You yelled at him, before giving a small scoff. "Addio, Gavino." You said, hoping he understood from that that you did not want to see him for a while.

With a sigh to yourself, you began to walk the way Ezio had run.

Where did he go? You thought to yourself as you wandered down the street. Why would Gavino do such a thing? It was like he was a stranger, no longer the man he had been. He had never done anything quite like this. Or has he? What do I really know about him?

You paused at that thought. What did you know? Not as much as you had thought. This is not the time, I must find Ezio.

As you walked along the street, pondering whether or not you should have left the market, a guard ran past you on your right. In his hurry, he barged Into your right arm, not only causing pain to shoot through your shoulder, but also causing you to lose your balance and fall over onto your right arm.

"Cazzo!" You cried out in pain as you attempted to get up, which you found to be difficult without the use of your right arm which was currently burning with pain.

"Are you alright?" A male voice asked as somebody helped you to your feet – while being very careful not to touch your right arm or shoulder, you noted.

"No, I am not alright!" You snapped as you finally got to your feet and held your right arm in an attempt to dull the pain. You looked at the man who had helped you. He wasn't an old man, but he must have been double your age. He was large, tall with broad shoulders, and he appeared to be muscled. He had long, dark brown hair which was tied at the back with a ribbon of some kind. He had dark brown eyes that stared down at you, while you pondered why he looked somewhat familiar. Sighing, you apologised. "I did not mean to snap, mi dispiace. I am having a... bad day. Grazie."

"It is no trouble, I wanted to make sure that you were alright." His voice sounded familiar, though you could not quite put your finger on it. He had an accent that you believed to be British. It was not unusual to hear British accents as some British people had made Italia their home.

"[Name]!" You heard another voice call you, and you turned to see Ezio approaching. He gave the man a curious look before looking back to you. "Is everything alright here?"

"Sì. I was knocked over and this man helped me up. Grazie again... erm..." You trailed off, not knowing the name of the man.

"William Richards." He said, filling in your silence.

"I am [Full Name]. Grazie, William."

"It is no trouble, [Name]. Take care." He said, giving you a small smiled before leaving, disappearing into the crowds of people. You turned to Ezio, who was frowning in the direction of William.

"What is it, Ezio?" You asked, curious.

"That man, he... looked familiar." He said slowly, though you felt he was not saying something.

"I thought so also."

He shook his head. "Let's go elsewhere, shall we?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WOOOOOOO! Chapter 10 is finally done! :D 

Sorry about the wait :( I do hope to have chapter 11 uploaded before september, though! 

This chapter probably would've been finished sooner but I started playing Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and it is SO FUN!!!!! :D I got bored with AC3 and couldn't finish it, but Black Flag is fun again! I love it :) 

This story has had far more reads than I ever suspected, especially at only 9 chapters! Had a look at some of the stats too! Hello Americans! Hello Canadians! Hello whoever is reading this in Japan! HELLO EVERYBODY READING THIS WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE WORLD! :D 

(Seriously, I saw where people were reading this and freaked out! I'M SO HAPPY! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! <3 )

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Vote/Comment/Fan!

You guys ROCK! <3