A Long Way to Fall

by Cinders of War

Chapter 16: The Other Side

“Problem,” Trueshot voiced over the radio.

“What is it?” Ice Flake asked, watching the armored man approach the terrified cowboy.

“Ash has a helmet,” Trueshot analyzed. “There’s no way my 9mm shots are piercing that.”

“Great,” she mumbled. She turned to her fiery partner. “Looks like we’ll have to do this old school.”

“Right,” Fire Frenzy agreed, pulling out his sword.

“Trueshot, do what you can to slow him down. I’m sure he can still feel it through his armor.”

Ice Flake and Fire Frenzy leapt over the railing and scaled the fire escape down towards the armored man. Hearing the noise, he looked up and saw them. He sheathed one blade and whipped out his pistol and started firing. They quickly got behind one of the emergency hoses as the bullet started ricocheting off the solid metal.

“Trueshot!” she shouted into her earpiece. “We need some cover fire!”

“Got it.”

She heard the sound of bullets pinging off the man below as he stumbled back. he bent down, but the force of the bullets only knocked him around instead of killing him. Ice Flake and Fire Frenzy took the chance and got to moving down again. As she got close enough, she peeled off her sais from her waist and pointed the tip towards Ash as she dropped to him. He recovered enough to swat her out of the way with one arm, sending her rolling onto the hard ground. Frenzy joined in, swinging his blade at Ash. The Templar parried his attacks, striking back with some of his own as Ice got back up.

“Surrender, Ash Wood,” she warned. “You can’t take all of us at once.”

“I… can…” he muttered, his head still sore from taking a few bullets.

He dashed forward, raising two swords to Ice Flake and Fire Frenzy. The white haired woman twisted around him and jammed her sais at his chest. His kevlar armor absorbed the blow, but Fire Frenzy had stabbed his sword down into Ash’s knee, earning a scream from the Templar. A few more bullets pinged off his helmet, seriously disorienting him.

"Gruhh..." the man groaned. "Cover fire!"

A few shots suddenly pierced the air as a second man stood by the entrance of the alley, his rifle facing away from the Assassins, pointed at the buildings ahead.

Ice Flake noticed the direction the second man fired in, quickly getting on her earpiece. "Trueshot! Are you still there?"

A few husky breaths replied back before Trueshot's voice. "I'm hit... I'm sorry... I won't be of any help from here..."

"Stay put!" she shouted, to him. “We’ll come get you once we deal with these two! Frigid Night! We need you out here!”

The young Assassin leapt out of his hiding spot and unsheathed his hidden blades, jamming one into the first Templar’s arm as Ice Flake and Fire Frenzy headed for the one with the gun.

“Take care of this one, Frigid!” Ice Flake ordered as she ran forward. “He’s almost done for!”

Frigid slashed another blade at Ash, but the Templar deflected with a sword before swinging the other at Frigid’s head. The Assassin just barely managed to dodge it, going under Ash and kicking back, tripping the Templar.

“You’ll pay for that!” the Templar cursed.

Ice Flake and Fire Frenzy curved around the second man, running as fast as they could as the bullets pelted the ground behind them, slowly catching up. Frenzy pulled out a knife as they got nearer and chucked it at the gunman. He brought up the gun to block the knife, allowing Ice Flake and Fire Frenzy to get closer to him.

“Take him,” she said to Frenzy as she spun to the man’s right side. She slashed at him, but his kevlar armor held out most of it. He grabbed one of her wrists and flipped her to the ground as he turned to Fire Frenzy. The orange-skinned Assassin brought his sword up and cut down hard, but the man was quicker, pulling out two blades and countering Frenzy’s attack, forcing him back.

“You’re not stopping me that easy,” he laughed at the two Assassins.

Ash Wood had pulled Frigid by the hood and slammed him down to the ground, bringing his blade up for the finishing strike. As his arm came down, someone behind him pulled him back, throwing him down to the ground and swiping his helmet at the same time. The man on the ground grunted as he looked up at High Noon standing above him.

“Singe,” High Noon remembered his fellow bodyguard as he threw the helmet down. Singe was Ash Wood's bodyguard, like how High Noon had been Oak Wood's. He looked to the other man fighting Frenzy and Flake. “Ash.”

“That’s right, Noon,” he spat. “Ash’s plan was fantastic. You will all pay with your lives.”

Before he had a chance to get up, Frigid had sprung up and drove his hidden blade deep into Singe’s face. The bodyguard gurgled and went still.

“Thanks, High Noon,” Frigid Night nodded, turning his attention to the other fight. “We’ll talk more later. Let’s deal with Ash Wood.”

---

Ash had the upperhand in the fight, being a skilled spy and swordmaster. He grabbed the blue Assassin by her throat and threw her against the wall as he parried the orange one’s blade. He quickly turned around as the woman bounced back to him and inserted his sword through her body, splashing blood on his body armor.

“No!” the orange one yelled, and charged Ash again.

Ash allowed himself to smile as he turned and elbowed him in the chest, before spinning a kick at his face, sending him sprawling to the concrete. He stepped back and tossed the female one away from his blade, sending her rolling up against a pile of trash.

“Always knew you Assassins were a bit weak,” he laughed at them. “What a joke.”

Frenzy scrunched his face in anger as the spy approached him, drawing a second sword. Ash was about to attack again when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned just in time to see High Noon and the young Assassin jump at him. He sidestepped and aimed a sword at High Noon, but the Assassin countered, stepping back into his path and deflecting it with a hidden blade before driving the second one into his arm.

“Agh!” Ash shouted as he swung his blade back, watching as the orange Assassin blocked it. He clashed with both Assassins, trading slashes and parries, dueling it out for almost two minutes.

He had lost sight of High Noon, but he knew the traitor couldn’t do anything. He was weak. He was a coward. He was a failure. He continued to attack and defend as the two Assassins tried to take him down. Suddenly, he felt something like a wall fly against him, pushing him down. It could only be one other person.

“High Noon!” he grunted. “You traitor! Get off me now, and perhaps I’ll rethink Mahogany’s offer!”

He pointed his sword backwards and tried to stab the cowboy, but the orange-skinned Assassin put a foot on his arm, and with another foot, dislocated Ash’s shoulder.

“Gah!” he released from his mouth, still trapped under the cowboy. “I’m going to remember this, Assassins!”

High Noon pulled off his helmet, revealing Ash's raging face, spitting and spluttering at them. The orange-skinned one walked closer and raised his hidden blade to Ash’s face. “For Ice Flake.”

Ash closed his eyes, knowing his moment was here. He silently apologized to his brother, having failed at killing High Noon. He felt the tip of the blade enter his neck, cutting off his oxygen flow. He didn’t have long, but he felt that he needed to say something.

“So this… is it, huh?” Ash gasped, fighting for air. “The end. All I… ever wanted was to help my brother… make this world… a world worth living in.”

“On your own terms, you mean?” High Noon raised his voice. “Before I knew that, I had also believed the Templars’ goal was to do just that.”

“You don’t… see the bigger picture… in the end… it’ll all make sense… We are still the rightful… rulers. We can change the future…”

As Ash slowly closed his eyes to enter the void, the older Assassin bent down and placed a hand on Ash’s face. “You picked the wrong side and now you’re paying for it.”

---

Fire Frenzy quickly ran over to Ice Flake’s body. She was bleeding profusely from the wound in her chest, gasping as she fought for air.

“Flake!” he called, lifting her head up under his leg. “Stay with us! Frigid’s called for help. You’re going to be fine. The medics are on their way.”

He inspected her wound. It was a deep stab, going out on the other side, puncturing some of her organs and just barely missing her heart, but by the looks of it, she didn’t have long.

She coughed out blood on his robes, staining them with a red tint. “Is-is the Templar dead?”

“Yeah, they’re both dead,” Frenzy told her, fighting back his tears.

“T-that’s… good,” she said softly, her eyes beginning to close.

“No, no, no…” Fire Frenzy put a hand to her cheek. “Don’t go… not yet. Help’s coming!”

“It’s alright, Frenzy…” she reached up to his cheek. “We did it. We got another one… One day, I’ll see you again… on the other side…” Ice Flake took her last breath and stopped moving, her arm dropping back to her side.

Frenzy couldn’t hold back his tears anymore as a steady stream began pouring from his eyes. As he shut her eyes, he brought his head down against her forehead; one last comfort before facing the truth.

“...Rest well, Flake…” he choked out, staying in the bent position for a while longer. "I'll see you again one day..."

Frigid approached the fiery haired Assassin and placed a hand on his back."Fire Frenzy... Are you... Alright?"

He continued sitting next to his friend, not moving away. "I'll... Give me more time alone... Go check on Trueshot. Take High Noon with you... Just let me stay here."

Frigid nodded before turning and pulling High Noon with him. "Come. Give him some time."

High Noon followed Frigid without question, clearly seeing the man before him needing his space. They headed down the street towards Trueshot’s position.

---

Frigid ran to Trueshot’s side as he and High Noon arrived at the top of the fire escape. The senior Assassin was lying against the concrete wall, his arm bandaged up to his collarbone, a few bloody bullets on the floor around his feet.

“Took your time,” Trueshot forced a smile on his face. “I already went ahead and cleaned up my injuries. No big deal. I'll live.”

“Yeah…” Frigid looked down. “Trueshot… we lost Ice Flake. Ash got her.”

“Derr`mo...” Trueshot spat. “I should have got him sooner. I was careless. I didn’t see him coming.” He dropped his head, but raised it again to look at at High Noon. “How about this one? Can we trust him?”

Frigid looked at High Noon as the cowboy walked up to join them. Frigid didn’t quite know what to think about the ex-Templar, but he knew one thing for certain. “He saved my life just now. I think we should give him a shot at being one of us.”

Trueshot grunted. “Well, if you say so, I won’t argue. You should get back to the boss… tell him the news.”

“What about you?” High Noon examined the sniper. The gunshot wounds didn’t look too serious, but they still needed to be dealt with. Trueshot waved him away.

“I’ll be fine,” he assured them as he reached for something in his coat. “Bit of vodka, all better.”

“We’ll help you back to HQ,” Frigid insisted, ready to help the sniper up as soon as he was done draining the alcohol.

After disposing of the glass bottle, Trueshot let the two younger ones help him up and bring him over to the fire escape.

Author's Note:

Picture of some of the Assassins
Right here!

Comments

[Jaxxon Markus Citadel]

Another one of the Woods bites the dust. How many more siblings does Mahogany have? He won't have many by the time this story is over, I don't think. Still waiting for Mirror Match to change sides. That'll probably be the next big plot point, seeing as how much he likes her.

[Sonata Eternal]

A shame for the Assassins to lose one, but at least they got Ash. Well done, High Noon. He's gotten a place among them now, right? Frigid seems to be accepting now. That was fast.

[sunset is the assassin]

oh...one more thing. i've noticed that "long way to fall", "the lost connection", as well as "age of kings" haven't been updated in months. you guys have been online but haven't been updating. what's with that? is it writers block? if it is i find that acting out the story you already have (like daydreaming) helps a lot. it might not work for you guys because you're not autistic (at least, i don't think you are). but you could try it. you never know. it might help tremendously! :)

[sunset is the assassin]

hey everyone!!! i'm new here and i really enjoyed reading this story...well for the most part anyways. i'm kinda an expert on Assassin's Creed lore (sort of; there's still a lot for me to learn). as well as the morality of the game. (after almost a year of looking online, i have come to the conclusion that no one, not even the makers of the game, understand the phrase "nothing is true. everything is permitted" like i do). as such, i feel kind of alone in the world. BUT!!!! i have a proposition for "a bag of plums" and "cinders of war". i would like to rewrite "leap of faith". or rather create a new story with the same characters, following a similar timeline, but with a new context, sort of. i've already written 6+ chapters of this new story and want to wait until i have permission from "a bag of plums" before posting. i don't want to be a dick, that's why i'm waiting; i'm afraid that it would violate copyright laws or something becuase this rewrite literally takes place in almost the EXACT same universe as the original, and also uses all the same OC's. i have read "a bag of plum"s stories and feel that while they're good, i can make them better. more complex too. "cinders of war", i want you to show this comment to "a bag of plums" as soon as possible. just tell them to just respond to this comment when they have an answer because i don't quite understand how the personal messaging thing works yet and i'm fairly afraid of trying new things. i hope you will allow me to post the rewrite. i'll be really happy if you do. i'm almost obsessed with Assassin's Creed and fairly enjoy MLP too, so it will be a dream come true if you would except my proposition. i eagerly await a response.

oh. by the way, if you haven't caught on yet with me sounding a little bit like an asshole just then. i have autism. in particular, i have Aspergers Syndrome. so, if i sounded like an ass back there i apologize, as such was not my intention. i'm just really honest.

[Marcthelightspark2004]

8270756
I daydream the story in my head. not relevent, but just wanted to state it.

[MoonlightRift]

Things are looking decent for the Assassins, so I presume things are about to go to shit