Assassin's Creed: Chronos (Ezio x OC)

28 - Ends of the Earth

To the ends of the earth would you follow me?

There's a world that was meant for our eyes to see

To the ends of the earth would you follow me?

Well if you want, I will say my goodbyes to me

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April 14 1478

Monteriggioni, Italy

Catherine sighed as she adjusted her hidden blade while leaning against the wall around the training area. Ezio, standing next to her, glanced down, but then back to the men working their moves. It was a normal training day for them, and they'd already finished their Assassin training, so now it was time to wait for sparring. They only ever trained with each other, and Mario generally had them go last, so that had a bit of a wait still. Thankfully, they had plenty of sunlight with it not even halfway through the day. Their Commander had said the training session would be shorter today, anyways—something about business to attend to tonight, though he didn't say what. However, everyone had noticed he seemed uneasy; more on edge. It was disheartening, but there was nothing that could be done.

"Anxious?" Ezio asked her suddenly and she paused in her fidgeting. She glanced up, brow raised, and he chuckled. "You adjust your bracer when you're anxious. Or bored."

"Oh... I think just bored," she rumbled in reply and wrapped her arms around her front to keep them from picking about.

"Well, not much longer now and we can show these men how it's done," he smirked playfully, and though she returned his jubilance with a grin, it wasn't nearly as genuine or bright as she wanted it. Unfortunately, things between them hadn't been as good as they should have been for almost two weeks now—ever since he said he was leaving. He'd asked her to come with them, and he had done so a few more times, to which she gave the same answer: she didn't know.

And it was true. She honestly didn't know what she wanted. Or rather, she didn't know which to choose. She knew a part of her wanted to go with Ezio and stay with him—that part of her that had strong feelings beginning to grow demanded she remain by his side—but the other told her she needed to stay. Monteriggioni was her home, and with Ezio they would mostly likely always be on the run, and then—and perhaps it was foolish—but sometimes she thought the Clock told her to stay; that she was meant to be here. Oh, it was stupid. There was no way it was working when it hadn't in so long, but her gut just told her she had to stay. So what did she follow? Her gut or her heart? The former was generally right, and the latter wrong, but could it be the opposite this time?

Catherine hated when things that should have been easy to decide were so complicated. Worse still, she was making it complicated. All she had to do was say yes or no, but anytime he asked her mind went to the pits, and her tongue was tied. He would accept her indecision, though, and leave her be, but she swore she saw his pain—perhaps because it was close to a rejection. The thought tugged at her heart and made her want to say yes, but her loyalty kept herself rooted to this place and she ended up not moving at all.

So here they were.

At an impasse, and being awkward.

Fun times.

"Hey, Catherine... have you noticed how there seem to be fewer men today?" Ezio inquired, once again pulling the redhead from her stupor. She frowned, glancing around, and realized he was right. There were a distinct fewer number of men around than usual, which was odd. Sort of. She supposed it could be because of the attacks on the city, or at least the land around it. There hadn't been any direct strikes on the city, but the complaints from around had increased. They'd certainly faced increased amount of enemy units, and their attacks had been bolder and bolder. What was more discerning was that they always seemed to know the best places to come in—it was far more difficult to find them. It was uncanny, and unsettling. They'd managed so far, but now it seemed there were more of them, and they were better trained. Something was going on, and now that so few men were kept in the city, it was probably worse than they thought.