Octavia looked out onto the city from the top of the minaret she sat on. It was early morning and the sun was only now rising behind the mountain, so the city was still mostly in darkness. Sitting on the railing of the top porch, she let her legs dangle over and swung them casually back and forth. The city was a hundred feet below her, but she didn't mind the height. She had left that fear long ago.
It had been three weeks since the attack on the Den. The Thieves Guild had helped her recovered and allowed her to exercise in their hideout for her to regain her strength. Every night she expected them to show up with an Assassin they found, but they never did. The only Brothers and Sisters found were bodies disposed of in several different parts of the city. They were being hunted one and by one. A new Assassin corpse being found was announced almost three times per week.
The city was still on high alert and sneaking out of the capital was tougher than ever. Royal Guards patrolled every corner of Canterlot and spies for the Two Sisters checked upon every house and home. Octavia had purposely not visited Celestia since the attack. She wanted to make sure the Empress was calm and collected by the time they meet again.
The wind rustled her black hair and she sighed through her nose. No word was ever spoken about Vinyl and she was now thinking the worst had happen. Every time such a vile though arose, she would beat it back down, but with the time passed, more evidence backed up those thoughts. Perhaps she was lost or captured, but Octavia felt that she had to begin to accept the other possibility.
She shook her head. Vinyl has to wait. I have a grand task ahead of me. Octavia looked downward at the streets below her feet. With no Brotherhood present in Canterlot, the Templar ran around freely. They were quick and efficient, turning gangs and other underworld operatives to their side. Not only that, but the Order was turning the people away from the Two Sisters. Protests, papers, and signs against the Empresses began to appear more frequently. In her mind, there was absolutely no doubt that Starlight Glimmer was here. She had made no public appearance, yet.
"It is time I reconstruct the Brotherhood myself," Octavia said, barely hearing herself over the growing wind.
With that, she slid herself off the railing, entering a free fall. The wind rushed past her face, but the wind nor the gravity affected her. Her thoughts were still elsewhere as she fell. They were on how she would even begin the new journey ahead of her. Her arms were spread out, catching the air as she fell past it with such grace. The ground raced towards her and so she flipped in the air so that she would land on her back.
Remembering the time when Vinyl had shoved her off a roof, she smiled as she landed softly in a cart full of hay. Like every time she landed in hay, she had trouble keeping the straw from entering her mouth. When she sat up, she violently spat out the hay on her lips and ripped the rest from her hair. It would be another night of beating the hay out of the robes.
Civilians who casually walked by gave her curious glances, but none spoke to the seemingly insane hay-dweller. Octavia slipped out of the cart and looked down the street. Now that she was on her new quest, she had to start somewhere.
"Oh, what will I do?" she asked herself as she began to walk the street. "Every moment is precious. I must do something that is worthwhile."
With the awakening populace of Canterlot, the sounds of the lively city began to encroach on her thoughts and schemes. The merchants, the women in their vibrant outfits, and the children who ran with their dogs distracted the young Assassin. This is important, damn it! She needed a quiet place to rest.
Octavia walked into a tavern that was empty, save the guests that stayed there throughout the night. She did not attempt to purchase a drink and it would not have mattered as the owner of the place was nowhere to be seen. Sitting at a vacant round table, she leaned her back on a thick glass window, rubbing her temples in a desperate action to try and create more creativity in her occupied mind.
"Am I the leader of the Brotherhood?" she asked herself aloud. "Well, I presume so until a Bearer arrives or is found. Those bloody thieves, taking forever to get anything done. Hm, perhaps I should search for the Bearers myself?" She knocked her head on the glass in frustration. "Of course I shouldn't do that. I need to hinder the Templar's advances on my city. What is the point of spending so long to find the Bearers when there is an army trying to take over Canterlot?" Her face knotted with thinking. "Yes, I need to be monitoring the Order. I may be alone, but I am an Assassin. I am the One Woman Army Equestria needs."
Octavia still was not convinced. She was indeed an Assassin, but barely one by Brotherhood standards. She was no Den Master, she wasn't even a leader of any sort. Well, what is wrong with never leading if I have no one to lead?
It was at this moment a sharp noise brought her to reality. It came from outside the tavern, on the cobblestone streets. With a sudden turn of her head, she looked through the window only to realize that its uneven thickness made it impossible to make out anything outside. The noises continued and shouts were now joining the ruckus.
"Someone is being chased," Octavia concluded and rushed for the exit.
The Assassin opened the door to see a wild scene take place. A young woman was fleeing from a group of armored men. Having spent her life around Royal Guards, Octavia knew instantly that these men were no operatives of the government, but sinister agents of Templar allies. The young woman was knocking over everything she could lay her hands on to create distance between her and her vile enemies. Because of this, the normal folk were upset by the noise and mess. Some of their stands were overturned, some of their animals were fleeing in fear, and some of them themselves were on the ground after being ran over.
"Stop!" Octavia blurted out and upon doing so realized how useless her shout was.
The Assassin dug her shoes into the cobblestone before sprinting after the violent party. The armored foes, with their red drapes and short swords, were much harder to keep up than she anticipated. These agents were fit and still fast in their suits of heavy armor. She had to hop over the fallen objects and make tight turns to keep up. The agile young woman was trying her hardest to lose them all, so her route was full of sudden turns and nonsensical jukes.
"What is the meaning of this!" a nobleman yelled.
"Why is there always some commotion goin' on?" a poor woman wailed.
"I dream for a day when folk wouldn't chase each other around like headless chickens!" an angry man snarled.
The unknown woman shoved a fat merchant out of her way, causing him to fall upon a basket of fruit, which then caused the woman who was selling the fruit to curse the very rising sun. The armored goons followed in quick succession with Octavia catching up to them from the rear.
"Leave her alone!" Octavia ordered them.
Only one of the four looked back, but his head snapped back forward as his pals continued to chase the woman. The fleeing woman slid across the ground as she headed into an alleyway. This was the first time Octavia could get a good look of her and saw that she had bouncy white or silver-ish hair and large, innocent-looking eyes. Her face was white with horror.
At the sudden turn, one of the agents tripped and fell onto the stone ground. His companions raced away after the woman, leaving him behind. Octavia took the opportunity to pounce on him, stabbing him in the neck with her hidden blade. The Assassin instantly felt that her actions were being done too quickly as she had to know exactly why these men were chasing the woman.
"Too late for questions," she sighed as she pulled her blade out, leaving the man's body in a pool of his own blood.
She stood up to look around and saw that the woman and her assailants were missing. She had lost them. Knowing the last direction the woman went, she followed the group into the dark alleyway. The alleyway was lonely and wet as the sun had yet to dry the residue of the night. Being as quiet as she could, she lightly stepped through the tight alleyway, listening for any sign of violence.
"I'll take you all on!"
Octavia heard the croaking voice of a woman. It must be her! She turned in the direction of the voice and raced down an even tighter alleyway between two very tall structures. The alleyway, of which was so tight that only one person could easily fit through, led to a small plaza that appeared to be rarely visited. In this plaza was the woman, holding up a dagger, and the three remaining goons, holding their swords at her. She had cornered herself and was making a last stand.
"I'll fight you!" she said with no confidence whatsoever.
"Prepare for what happens to those who fight against progress!" one goon told her.
They ran for her. The woman, instead of standing her ground, started to run again. They swung their blades and all missed as she fled from them once more. Without having a place to go, it seemed she was resorting to simply running away in a circle.
Octavia drew her blade and rushed in to aid her. She charged one agent, slamming her body into him and stabbing her blade through his chin up into his head. His red-crested helmet flew off, making a loud clang on the ground. The two other men stopped in horror to see their ally be so brutally killed.
"It's an Assassin!" one screamed in fright.
"I thought they got all of 'em," the other cried.
"Not quite," Octavia replied with a grin.
They turned their full attention to her. Simultaneously, they flung their swords her way. She evaded their attacks, keeping her hidden blade up for a parry. When one sword came her way, she caught it with her hook and twisted it out of his hands. She followed up by digging the hook into his unarmored thigh, making him cry out in pain. With a forceful pull, she yanked the hook out of his flesh, creating a devastating wound that made him fall to the ground.
The last goon still fought on, even while knowing he was the last of his kind able to fight. Octavia sidestepped his attack and grabbed him by the shoulder. With her blade, she started to stab his side multiple times, making him grunt each time. The Assassin kept punching her blade deep into him, sending blood everywhere. To finish him off, she lifted him in the air and slammed him into the ground, lifeless.
She then turned to finish off the wounded agent, but found the young woman by his side, her dagger in his neck. The Assassin stood there with an eyebrow raised, waiting for the woman to say something.
"Thank you, lady, I would have been killed," she said in a soft voice.
"You are welcome," Octavia replied. "I see that you are accustomed to killing."
"Oh no, not really," the young woman shook her head quickly. "I've just had these awful men after me for some time. I've gotten used to the blood, that's all."
Octavia walked over to her and crouched down to her eye level. "Why are they after you?"
"I come from Cloudsdale," she said, "and they think I owe some loyalty to their leader, who is also from Cloudsdale. They think it's my duty or something to march and fight for them. They call it 'progress' I call it insane."
Octavia was not satisfied with the answer. "That is all rather vague. Do you know who these people are?"
"They call themselves 'Equalists,' ma'am."
"I call them Templar," Octavia sighed. "They are a powerful organization that wants all freewill to fall for the sake of order. I am sorry you have been brought up in this war."
"Sorry? I think I ought to be in this war!" she said with more confidence. "I am no weakling! If someone wants to push me around, I'll push them back!"
"Hehe, no you won't," Octavia shook her head and stood up. "You should go home and be safe."
The Assassin wiped the blood off her blade and began to walk away. Saving a civilian was a nice little task to do in the morning, she concluded. Now she had to return to her planning on how to stop the Templar Order. That was the most important task at hand.
"Don't you walk away!" the woman yelled angrily.
"Excuse me?" Octavia turned around. "I saved your life, be grateful at least."
"Why do you fight them and I can't?" she growled. "What gives you some special pass to tell me to 'stay home' while you go out and be a warrior? I should be out there fighting just like you. Whatever secret society you're a part of, I want in!"
"You what?" Octavia yelled back in bewilderment.
"I want to learn how to fight them like you do!" she repeated.
Octavia placed her hands on her hips. "Oi, what makes you think you can fight? All you have is that dagger! It sounds more like you just want to go out and die. Stay out of it, lass. I've been trained in combat for most of my life; you look like you just came from a ditch you've been living in for the past 20 years!"
"I'll learn!" she cried back. "You may be some skilled fighter, but you can't take on this Templar stuff all by yourself. I can help you. I'll fight for you. I've got nothing else to live for!"
Octavia lifted a harsh finger to rebut the woman, but paused. The woman was right. She couldn't take on the whole Templar Order by her lonesome. She needed allies, she needed other Assassins. Her mouth hung open with the first syllable of her harsh remark, but she closed it and took a deep breath.
"Are you sure you want this?" she asked the woman.
"Yes!" the woman frantically nodded her head to show her readiness.
The Assassin sighed. "Then you may join the Assassin Brotherhood. Right now, we are in a very terrible situation. We need more fighters to help us rid this city of the plague that is the Templar Order. There is much to be explained to you and much you must understand. However, I would appreciate your effort in helping the Brotherhood."
"Thank you! Thank you!" she ran over and hugged Octavia, who did not return it. "I can't stand these people any longer! It's time to fight back!"
"It is indeed," Octavia uttered monotonously.
"When do we begin?" the woman asked excitedly.
"Right now. Also, I am Octavia, and you may refer to me as..." a snarky grin formed on her face, "Den Master."
"Den Master Octavia," she began, "I am Vapor Trail of Cloudsdale!"
"A pleasure..."
~~~