The Creed (Dazzden x YukiBlue

The rain gently drifted down in Roma as a lone pigeon flew up into the air, carrying a small tube on its leg. The Assassins needed to send letters, even in the winter rains. Venezia had an emergency, and soon, with the arrival of Ezio's letter, Assassins would be sent from a local hideout in Bologna. The once young man did not heat himself as he used to, and now in the rain Ezio had to wear another layer to keep dry and warm. Granted, that layer was very thin and didn't hinder his movement, but it did its job and Ezio could move about without being hindered by being cold. As he watched fly into the distance until it was out of sight, Ezio looked down on his city and smiled. Everything was much safer, everything was calm, almost perfect. The people were happy, at least at the Tiber Hideout. Of course, other places weren't as lucky. Stragglers in the Borgia army would come into the city, starting fights and such. There was never really a peaceful moment in the city.

Feeling that he was done, Ezio turned and examined the top door of the Tiber Hideout. Walking up to it, he turned his head, listening closely. The man shook his head, then stepped to the side and opened the door from a safe distance. Three young recruits all lunged forward, all of them falling flat on their faces. Ezio simply walked over and placed a foot on the oldest recruit's back. "My friends, you will have to be much quieter in the future if you plan to surprise me. That makes this thirty seven wins for me, and none for you three."

The youngest, a fourteen year old boy, sprang up and made a scrunched up face. "We would have gotten you if you had been in front of the door!" The two others, a seventeen year old male and a sixteen year old female, just laughed and helped each other get up.

The oldest nodded his head and apologized. "We will be on our way, Master. Buona sera." They headed down ahead of Ezio, who just laughed and followed them. The hideout was a bit fuller than usual, with the rate of things to do down and the rate of recruits up. Ezio didn't have work to do, since he had assigned teachers to help the recruits, and he had given himself a well deserved rest after a long mission in France. With the hideout so full; though, Ezio decided to take a nice stroll in the rain. He made sure to put on his Onyx uniform, so he wouldn't stand out too much, then headed outside to the streets of Roma.

The rain has always been a touch depressing to human beings, something dealing with the expulsion from Eden into the cold, wet and uncaring world outside of the beautiful haven. The sadness and poetry of it was not lost on Renata, she was always aware of the feelings of the people of her city. Roma had suffered greatly under the heavy hand of the Borgia, those wounds still healing even now. Her horseback return to the city was now much less pleasant than it had started. Renata's hood was the only thing preventing her from looking vaguely like a drowned rat. Leaping from her horse, she patted his shoulder gently, letting the horse know in her own way how much she had appreciated his help.

The high rise of the buildings began looking more appealing to Renata by the moment. Her teachers had taught her well, her instincts telling her to climb the nearby buildings to get above and away from the crowds. Turning her attention again to the crowd, she noticed several things that bothered her. One was the alarming number of Borgia soldiers in the Palazzo Laterano area, two was the surprising lack of white hoods that should be patrolling. It bothered her that the area was getting so over run already. Slipping down a nearby alleyway, Renata took to the roofs, her heart focused on returning to the hideout and requesting assistance in pushing the Borgia soldiers out once more. Leaping over a gap, she narrowly latched onto the edge. As she pulled herself to her feet, her head shook lightly, cursing herself on being so careless once more. She'd had enough problems in Florence trying to get rid of a corrupt priest, nearly falling off the top of the chapel twice. Nodding to herself, she muttered something about more training.

As she made her way to her home, she noticed a black hooded figure. Obviously an assassino, she noted her distance to the ground and found her way down, her mind set on asking them for help. Slipping down a pipe, she carefully pushed several people aside, trying to get as close to him as she could. Reaching her hard out, Renata gently touched their shoulder.
"Mi scusi amico, I despise interrupting your peace, but I have a small favor I wish to ask of you," Renata's voice remained low, so as not to attract the attention of passersby. "There seems to be a small pest problem near the Palazzo Laterano, and I would kindly like to request your assistance in ridding the area of the infestation."

The girl was confident enough in her abilities that she might convince this assassin to assist her, her mind never thinking of the fact that she may be out ranked by him...

The shop Ezio had been looking at was a new bookstore Ezio had helped to fund. With new books, Ezio also had more entertainment for the evening. As he was looking at the new selections; however, Ezio noticed a shadow that was out of place. It looked as though it was on top of one of the buildings. There was almost no doubt in Ezio's mind that it must have been an assassin, by the looks of how it moved. Taking a subtle look to the side, he confirmed this, seeing a flexible youngling slide down a pipe. Ezio just looked back at his book, certain that the assassin must have been on patrol and was going to move on. So, he began reading the book he had found again. It was called Fasciculus Medicinae and contained certain medical recipes that Ezio became interested in. As he was thinking about where to buy the materials for the potions, a hand pressed on his shoulder.

"Mi scusi amico, I despise interrupting your peace, but I have a small favor I wish to ask of you. There seems to be a small pest problem near the Palazzo Laterano, and I would kindly like to request your assistance in ridding the area of the infestation." The voice was a female's, and it was such a quiet voice that Ezio couldn't help but know that the situation must have been important. However, he couldn't help but be amused. She obviously thought that he was just some other assassin, because she didn't call him 'Master' like everyone else.

"Well, I would kindly accept, even if today was supposed to be my rest day. Shall we, signorina?" Ezio turned to face the assassin, with a simple smirk on his face. He tilted his head lightly to one side as he recognized the girl's face. "Ah, you are Renata, are you not? Home already? I assume the situation in Florence is handled then. Come, tell me your report as we go." Ezio walked off into an alleyway, then climbed up the windows and got onto the rooftops.