Nothing is true, everything is permitted.

Altair had simply nodded to Rafiq in greeting, but otherwise remained silent. At Keita question, he nodded. "I will take the marketplace then. Give a signal when you want us to meet back up?" He could admit to himself, that part of his reasons for coming, just part of them, was curiosity. He had never really paid much attention to Keita before, seeing her as 'unimportant'. He regretted that now, as she was a rather... entertaining, woman. He wasn't sure what to make of her.

(It's fine. At this point, I've really run out of ideas for now. All I figured out about Arsuf is that he's a Templar that is trying to set up a foothold in this part of the world again. So, you can push things in whatever direction you want now, since even canonically, Altair will just be running the Order and making changes (and inventing things) for the next 11 years, to 1204, where (Spoilers) he'd then start spreading the Order's teachings to other regions, until he has to retreat from Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. Then he'd discover a special formula for metal, craft an armor set for himself, destroy the formula, invent the Hidden Gun, and then in 1217, go off and kill Genghis Khan.

He'd finish with this ten years later, return to Masyaf, and discover Abbas had taken over (and Swami had murdered his son) and he'd go into a 20 year exile before returning. That's how it would go in canon. But that's with him being married to Maria, so...)

She simply nodded and jumped down vanishing into the crowd once more heading towards the gardens and refreshing her mind of Damascus. Finding herself in the gardens she began to think carefully about what to do never making one sound to alert anyone, just melting into the crowds with ease, finding other scholars to blend with as she listened focusing on certain people speaking before picking up where she should go first.

Sitting on a bench her head bowed slightly and focused her hearing listening about what they said, it was about Arsuf, he didn't come out of his home very much in the rich district, only to throw parties and even then his face was never really seen.

(OK, cool… I have quite a few. Arsuf is like you said a Templar trying to set up a foothold in this part of the world. His reasons for wanting the fortress is well rather simple, since that is basically assassin HQ then it makes sense to go after whoever is at the top kill them and frighten the other assassins away if possible. He stays within the bounds of his home within the rich district and occasionally comes out for parties he throws around with the earliest one being this day, however, he is said to only come out during the night, rather silly yes… but oh well… that is what I have at the moment and I will think of other things as I’m working on it, feel free to add anymore bits of info about him too…)

Another thing that would be discovered, was that while Arsuf was a merchant, nobody really knew what he traded in, just that he was very wealthy. Someone, however, stated they had seen him send out several carts full of something unknown one night. Another would inform her that despite his secrecy, he had a flair for the dramatic during his parties.

(Alrighty. Guess they'll each find out bits about this guy, and put it together when they meet back up. Also, do you intend for Altair and Keita to end up in a relationship?)

She soon found out all she could from the gardens and had learnt a lot, he would hold one of his parties tonight; he always had them at night, the mysterious rich man. She also located where his house was as well figuring out it was near one of the oldest building in which she could easily recall to her mind.
Heading about halfway between the two places, sending out a signal she waited in silence looking to the sky, seeing the odd eagle, paying attention to such detail as her thoughts wondered once more.

(Hmm don’t really know, didn’t think much about it really maybe, but if it was a possiblilty I thought it would be gradual…what do you think, this is your topic as well)

Altair met up with her shortly, positioning himself about the building so that they could speak, but they could not be seen together, if someone saw them at all. "I'm here. What did you find out?"

(Sorry that's short. Also, I'm a hopeless romantic at heart. I'm never satisfied with a thread unless it has romance. It's just how I am.)

“He likes his parties that’s for sure, only throws them at night however. Apart from that he usually stays licked up in his house in the rich district, there is not that much to find about him he keeps himself to himself not even his own guards know much.” She said “Although his house isn’t too hard to find, an open party as well so it will not be too hard to get in either” she was leaning against the wall still looking up to the sky and her voice kept to a low whisper, knowing he would hear her.

(Ok then, if you want we can add some romance and same here to a certain extent though… this topic was basically one that well pretty much anything can happen with the two characters, so I’m sure we can add some romance to it, somehow…lol)

Altair nodded slightly. "I also heard those things, though the part about his guards, I did not hear. I did, however, hear that when he addresses the guests of his parties, he briefly dismisses his guards. I don't know his reasons for that. Also, I discovered a very small symbol is on the armor of his guards. It is the Templar symbol."

“Hmm, that makes sense now, if it were not for that I would wonder why he would form such a plan, anyway we should be heading back, the evening will fall soon” she said before she found her way back the bureau and relayed the information to Rafiq. “I see, well I give you leave to go” he said handing her a white feather which she secured under her old hidden blade, which she still held curiosity for, one she hoped she would figure out somehow hopefully.
She settled down and prepared herself quickly checking the sky for when the right time to leave would be, talking half to herself “When the guards leave as he addresses the guests that would be the perfect time to strike if timed correctly, no guards to chase us is we attract any attention at all” she said and then stood up after adjusting something and climbed out of the bureau picking up the quickest route.

Altair nodded, following her carefully, while making sure they were not obvious. "Agreed. How do you want to go about this then, Keita? Even if done while his guards are away, they will still give chase, as they will not have gone too far."

(Also, with said romance, should probably figure out how far it goes 'on screen'.)

“We’ll still have a head start, which is better than nothing. If we stay out of sight then it should work although that could make it difficult, like I said people do not stand still for very long.” She said thinking once more. The crowds on the grounds however would be easy to hide in, positioned correctly would be easier, we’ll see when we get there which would be better, worked for me in the past and haven’t lost a limb just yet” she said staying to the roof tops in order to find her way there quickly crouching down in the shadows when she was there waiting in silence, positioned behind the balcony en case he decided to go there she looked around, thinking. “A little early” she muttered and picked up the details before seeing people coming in. “I think one of us should stay on the roof, that way we have both the ground and the roofs covered.” she said before she jumped down on the other side slipping herself into the crowds, Waiting for her target.

(well what would you suggest for that, haven't really done many romance topics before so... bit unsure...)

Altair agreed with her suggestion, and agilely made his way onto the roof without being seen, taking position carefully. He'd hoped not to have to deal with more Templar's so soon, but was not really surprised. At least it seemed to be just one for now.

(Um... I'd suggest whatever you are comfortable with. I've done various things in thread, ranging from the innocent to the explicit. Kinda depends.)

She found it easy to blend in, she knew people in each city as well, under a false name though. A few even came up to greet her themselves, they though she was a scholar. She moved herself away from them to the front of the people separating, almost like royalty was coming and licked her lips a little pulling her hood over her face more to hide herself, making no sudden movements to alert anyone and having already planned out every possible escape for when the guards did give chase.

She was careful, taking everything in her stride and did not rush such a thing, the guards left and she waited in silence, he came over to greet her himself as well, pulling him closer she made look like he had fallen on her and decided to try out the new hidden blade within seconds it was done. Falling to a kneel once more she lowered him and spoke “Arsuf, speak, you secrets are safe, I know you hold many, but tell me one thing why attack Masyaf?” she asked.

(How about we just see how everything goes , I don’t think I’d really mind too much to be honest, not after reading a book my friend lent me… I’m never borrowing books from her again… it is actually a funny story…Also thought you might want to play Arsuf, give you more to write…)

Arsuf cursed softly, glaring at her. "I see... so our plan was discovered. I thought for sure... this was supposed to be my time.... my time to prove myself, to regain power in this part of the world for our Order... but you damned Assassin's... you ruin everything... you just do not understand the wisdom of our leadership..."

Keita looked to him “I could say the same to you” she paused briefly “What order, I thought it was destroyed?” she said, she wanted her answers and the gnawing curiosity was getting to her, had some other order formed within them. They were getting stronger themselves, but through different means, that she could pick up instantly. “Answer me” she said her voice turning harsher.

After getting her answer she turned hearing the guards and swiftly climbed up to the roof tops making a disticnt clacking sound on some of the tiles to signal Altair about the guards and then she went silent finding a quick and safe route, hearing the alarm bells going throughout the otwn, they echoed so very loudly in such circustances.

Arsuf had simply expressed confusion about her questions, and questioned if she actually knew anything before he died. During the escape, Altair took notice of a guard getting close to catching Keita due to having taken another route. While he had no doubt she could handle the guard, stopping to fight would only slow their escape. He felled the guard with a throwing knife, and continued along.

(The Templar's also referred to their organization as the 'Order' at times.)

She let him fall before leaving swiftly, wiping the feather along his throat after slitting his throat, making sure he was dead. She made a leap of faith into a cart of hay hiding until she was sure everything was safe and jumped out pulling her hood over her face more just to be sure and kept herself out of sight before clambering back onto the roof, almost running into Altair. “Thank you for back there” she said smiling a little and then looked up to the sky it was silent and she then headed back to the bureau in order to wait for the alarm bells to stop ringing.
She tugged the side of her hood a little just thinking herself again before jumping down into the bureau to report her news.
"How did it go?"
"Went well but as you can hear..."
"As usual" said Raqik

(sorry, my little cousin started messing with my ocmputer when they came over and just deleted my reply... sorry about that...)

Altair dropped into the Bureau a bit after Keita, immediately moving off to the side, making it clear Keita was the one in charge here at the moment. He was happy to see her doing well, honestly. Despite his arrogance in the past, he'd always held some respect for her. She was a strong woman, independant. The only woman in the Order currently, too. The fact that she had also never been too far behind him in skill had added to that respect.

Of course, now that he'd learned humility, and had become wiser, that respect was far stronger. He also came to realize things about her that he'd not noticed in the past. She was very compentent, clever. She knew how to have fun. He wasn't entirely sure if he could comment on her appearance, since seeing her without a hood was rare generally, and it had been two years since he'd last seen her. He was fairly sure she was attractive though.... but, why was he even thinking about that?

(thought of a better reply)
After a bit she decided it was time to leave, “Hey, Altair, wake up” she said teasingly since he had drifted off into his thoughts, something else she had noticed was different, once he was out of his thoughts she climbed out of the bureau to head back to where the horses were. More careful this time as she merged with the crowd never letting herself get too close to the guards, just encase. Before she soon jumped back onto the roofs again, at one point her hood slid back but quickly pulling it back over her head. Another odd thing about her is she showed respect differently, not by what she called them but by how she acted, she found him annoying sometimes because she couldn’t catch up but also held respect for him, although many said she didn’t. Although apart from that she hadn't changed at all, still the interesting woman many found her to be.
Getting back to the horses she checked the tack on hers, making sure everything was secure before she quickly jumped up onto her horse in order to head back "Anything else, before we head back?" she asked, wondering if there was any other place they should head to before they actually headed back to Masyaf.
She had noticed different things as well, he was not as arrogant as before, he knew how to use the knowledge he had gained and was wiser than when she had left. She lifted her head a little thinking drifting into her own thoughts for a few moments. “Also one more thing, you’ve changed an awful lot since I was last here, from what I remember you were an arrogant… child as some might say” she said laughing a little at the memories smiling to herself.

Altair nodded slightly. "Yes... I have changed, though I wish the lessons I learned had not come at such a cost. I foolish mistakes. If Al Mualim had not needed me to act as his puppet in killing the Templar leaders for him, I would be dead now. My arrogance cost Malik his arm, his brother, and led the Templar straight to our gates. I broke all three tenets of the Creed that day. I should be dead. However, I was given a second chance. Because of that, I have learned much. I only hope it was enough."

“We all make mistakes and we learn from them, that is life, something we all tend to learn the hard way, even when we are told such a thing we never let it sink in until it actually happens, plus we are only human” she said “Although you are right about the dead part, guess you just ended up have fate on your side” she said tugging her hood down a little since it was slipping off anyway and rustled her shoulder length brown hair which covered her grey-blue eyes, one of her very distinct features which was one reason she never took her hood down much. “You are also gaining a habit of being to hard on yourself, Malik from what I can tell has forgiven you, if you had died the whole country for all we know would be under his control” she trailed off a smirk forming on her lips, “no holding back this time, Altair” she said sternly before snapping her reins and galloped off planning to race him back, this time without him holding back.

Altair silently thought over Keita's words, and those eyes of hers, until she took off. He smirked at that. "Careful what you wish for..." He took off, pushing his horse first to catch up, and then pass Keita. He noted with respect that she wasn't too far behind. His horse was the best the Order had, and if not for that, he was sure Keita would be right alongside him.

“Oh if the world was careful then it would be boring” she shouted back to him bluntly before her passed her and turned her horse taking a short cut and ended up getting ahead of him again and kept going before “Hurry up, hurry up” she chanted back to him jumping over the logs in front of her and snapped the reins a little. She knew full well he had the best horse but no way was that stopping her in fact nothing really did.

It was a short trip back racing there, she arrived not too far behind him and tied her horse up to one of the water troughs and loosened the tack , pulling her hood up once more over her messy hair thinking to herself in silent, she couldn’t really think of anything more to say at the moment though.

After tying his horse up, Altair turned to Keita, and actually smiled. "You did well, Keita. I'm glad that you are back in Masyaf. Having someone around that can be trusted is a valuable thing. It also helps when that person knows how to have a bit of fun at times. It's something I'm learning is important at times."

She turned when he began talking, shocked to see a smile appear on his face, she smiled back. “I think the sky is falling, you’re learning humour and you’re smiling” she said just playing around as usual. “And that is good to hear,that I am trusted, glad to be back. Nice to see a few familiar faces after so long you could say.” she walked into the village. “I’ll be heading back home for now, unless there is anything else I need to do beforehand” stopping in her tracks since her old home was in a different direction to the fortress.

Altair shook his head a bit. "No, go home. You've more than earned your rest, Keita. Sleep well, and have pleasant dreams."

(I couldn't think of anything else....)